


Dragon Warrior

by Teemeah



Category: Japanese Actor RPF, Satoh Takeru - Fandom, Sugizo (Musician), X JAPAN
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragons, F/M, Fantasy, Japanese Mythology & Folklore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-07-08 04:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19863172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teemeah/pseuds/Teemeah
Summary: Ryuu Shin Narano (Satoh Takeru) works as a professor of Japanese mythology at a university in California. His vast knowledge of mythological creatures, particularly the world of dragons fascinates Luna Schiller, an assistant teacher of Japanese language and literature. Little does she know that Ryuu has more to do with the world of dragons than just studying mythology. The mysterious and handsome professor harbors a dark secret from another realm...----Introducing:Satoh Takeru as RyuuSugizo as ShirojinJet Li as Master LeeHIDE as General MatsumotoNo Min-woo as Fujita...with more to come along the way. An untraditional fanfic. :)





	1. PRELUDE

Darkness fell on Mount Yari as the full moon rose above its ragged ridges, enveloping it in cold, silver light. The loud chirping of crickets and the rustle of leaves grew in his ears, as Shirojin carefully made his way through the forest, soundless, almost like a floating spirit. The gate was only open for about half an hour, he had little time to waste. His long, white hair glided gracefully in the air as he quickly approached the cottage.

The boy was sleeping. He could hear his every breath, saw every rise and fall of the small rib cage. He was sleeping on his side, as always, with his arms under his head, his angelic face nestled deep into the pillow. Barely 8 years old, his face started to take shape, his long eyelashes cast a shadow onto his fair skin in the moonlight. 

Shirojin heaved a deep sigh and settled down next to the boy, without making noise - silent and careful. The house was in a traditional Japanese layout, and as usually, people slept on the open terrace during summer. Master Lee was peacefully sleeping on the other side of the terrace.

He grew so much since last year, at least 6 cms. He also became stronger. The last time he saw the boy from afar, in April, he was practicing Chinese martial arts outside the cottage, on a small clearing nearby the brook. His moves became faster, more punctual, and his power increased significantly. Master Lee was pleased. 

Shirojin affectionately, cautiously passed two fingers along the boy's cheeks, caressing his skin and felt his heart filling up with pain. He got up and without looking back, headed back to the gate. 

These were his only moments, the only time he could see his son for a few minutes, before the gates of the two worlds closed. 

\----

Satoh Takeru as Ryuu

Sugizo as Shirojin

Jet Li as Master Lee

HIDE as General Matsumoto

No Min-woo as Fujita


	2. The Fleeting Promise of a Normal Life 1.

Luna Schiller was desperate for ice cream. Having to put up with being an assistant lecturer under a particularly fussy and boorish professor was one thing, being stressed about her own PhD thesis was another. When both seemed to doom on her at the same time, she could literally scrape off her own skin and scream. Whoever thought it was a good idea to go into academics was clearly a fool. She was a fool. She was just about to indulge into a bowl of banana splits when Cassy, the secretary of her department flopped down on the chair on the opposite side of her table at the cafe and scooped the spoon out of her hand, digging into Luna's ice cream and taking a huge bite.

"Oh god, I LOVE banana splits!", she groaned almost sexually and Luna pulled a grossed-out face.

"Jesus, Cass, this is a public place", she whispered to the blonde secretary but the other just shrugged it off nonchalantly. Luna snatched her spoon back immediately and pulled her bowl away from Cass, to a safe distance. 

"Anyways", Cass cooed on that particular tone that told Luna she was about share some juicy gossip. Cass knew everything that happened around campus. And beyond campus, too. They've been friends ever since Luna started her studies at the Department of Japanese Language and Culture, although she had no idea why exactly she befriended the harsh, manicured, perfectly blonde Cassy, when she was the complete opposite to her own personality.

"Guess what I heard from the dean", she winked at Luna and Luna started to roll her eyes. 

"What did you hear this time, again?"

"We get a new lecturer from Japan!", she leaned closer to Luna, as if sharing something top secret.

"Ugh, Cass, I knew that already. Remember, it went out in an all-employee email last week", Luna replied in between two spoonfuls of ice cream. 

"But...," with Cass, there was always a 'but', "I've seen his resume at the dean's office, and guuuurl, he's GORGEOUS", she exclaimed almost screaming and Luna tried to hush her down again. 

"Luna, seriously, if you've ever seen a guy this handsome... You know, I'm not really into Asian dudes, _like you_ , but even I was like, holy fucking smokes, he's HOT!", she grinned and Luna couldn't help but smile at her excitement.

"Is he really?"

"Yup! He's also pretty young, 29, I think. I don't remember our university ever having such a young prof."

Luna frowned. A professor whose below 30? That was very rare, also considering that she herself was just about to get her PhD, at 26.

"You mean, he's an assistant prof?"

Cassy shook her head almost violently and grinned. "He has his doctorate in history, I think". 

Wow, that was something, Luna nodded, with the spoon left absentmindedly in her mouth. Well, since they would be working in the same department, she guessed she would find out about the new professor soon enough. 

"Ah, Cass, I'm sorry, but I have to flee. I have a class at 3", she jumped up as she glanced at her watch and hastily packed her books and bag. 

Cass shrugged her shoulders and decided to cheerfully finish the leftover ice cream.


	3. The Fleeting Promise of a Normal Life, pt.2.

She was late again. She was always late. Her students already showed up 10 minutes late for all her lectures because she would be late anyways. Not that she was purposefully late, it just happened so. And oh boy, did she get scolded all the time by her supervisor and by the dean, too. She hurried through the corridors, her long, messy red hair floating, while she tried to keep her sling bag in place and juggle her laptop in her other hand. 

She barely finished a lecture in Japanese phonology to a class of about 20 students, and really wanted to catch the new professor's first lecture, which was, of course at the other end of the building. She had an appointment outside the university when the dean introduced the new teacher to all of the department staff. Cass was literally drooling when Luna came back an hour later, and spent nearly 20 minutes babbling about how beautiful _Narano-san_ was and how charming he was - and how not very tall he was. That was Cass' only complaint. She was into tall guys. Like, really tall guys. Luna almost chuckled out loud. Japanese men tended not to be on the very tall side, which should have been obvious to Cass, working at the Japanese department and having met a ton of exchange students and temporary lecturers from Japan over the past few years. 

She finally reached the lecture room. The door was open, signalling that this was an open lecture anyone could attend, without registration. Such lectures were usually not too popular, since those yielded only 1 credit point, so only the very enthusiastic ones would attend. But the room was almost entirely full. Mostly women, and Luna guessed it was because most girls at the Japanese department found Japanese guys really cute, so everyone was kind of curious of the new, young lecturer. She sneaked in and quickly settled down on a seat close to the wall. 

The lecture was already on, and the lecturer didn't pay much attention to her joining late. That wasn't a surprise with open lectures. The first thing she noticed was his handwriting on the whiteboard. 

奈良の 龍心 Narano Ryuushin

His Kanji characters were beautifully formed and Luna mused about his name. It was a very unusual Japanese name. It literally meant, "Nara's Dragon Heart". Nara? The prefecture south of Osaka? Or Nara, the historical period of Japan, the first real golden age of Japanese culture? Ryuushin... The heart of a dragon. 

She took a good look at the man now and for the first time since they met, she acknowledged Cassy's taste. The secretary wasn't exaggerating, at all. Narano Ryuushin was breathtakingly handsome. Strong, chiseled jawline, soft, plump lips, masterfully carved, large almond-shape eyes. His long, raven black hair was tied in a trendy man-bun and he was wearing black-framed glasses that accentuated his features. He wasn't tall, but he was certainly not on the short side. He was definitely short for Cassy's taste of beanpole guys but he was actually taller than the average Japanese guys Luna had seen thus far. He also seemed to be quite muscular under the plain white shirt and black jeans. 

He must have said something funny as the students started laughing wholeheartedly and he smiled. He had the kind of charming smile that would melt hearts and icebergs but it was also shrouded in some sort of sudden sadness Luna couldn't quite put a finger on but felt it lingering on his lips. She shook herself to get to her senses. maybe she should be focusing on his lecture instead?

"So, Narano-san, you mean that dragons are actually more important in Japanese mythology than other popular creatures, like the _youkai_? ", a girl in the front row asked. 

"What I'm saying is that dragons are way too underrepresented in works dealing with Japanese mythology compared to what they actually contributed to the foundation of the mythological world in Japan. Dragons merely became symbols of certain traits, and popular in terms of paintings, figurines and calligraphy - but many people still think about Japanese dragons as a kind of... import item. Like a vase you order from China on eBay", he mused and students were chuckling. He touched his lips for a moment while thinking and then leaned against the table he was standing in front of. 

"What these lectures aim to prove is that Japanese dragons, the original, real Japanese dragons have nothing to do with the Chinese dragon, despite the term that is widely used for them - _ryuu_. The word itself originates from the Chinese language, it is a loanword and the original term became long forgotten. But I will break it down in the next lectures, how Japanese dragons evolved and why we associate them with China today", he said with a mischievous smirk and Luna smiled despite herself. 

Before even realizing it, she put her hand up and he turned to her with eyebrows raised.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering, are dragons your focus because of your name?"

It was a silly question and she loathed herself immediately upon asking. She could have facepalmed herself. He laughed and so did the rest of the audience.

"Actually, that's not a bad question. _Nomen est omen_ , right?"

The lecture continued with a brief introduction to the basics of Japanese mythology and he handed out a thin booklet with the structure of the next lectures afterwards. Luna remained in the room and waited for the students to flood out, while Narano-san packed his papers and put them into his trendy handbag. 

He noticed her remaining on her seat and turned to her questioningly.

"Can I help you with anything else?", he asked on a warm tone. He had a very nice, soothing voice. And his English was spotless, without accent. 

"Umm, I'm sorry for that stupid question. I don't even know why I asked."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. I hope you enjoyed the lecture", he said sincerely and gave her a smile, preparing to leave the room. 

"Oh, I... I also wanted to introduce myself", she said hastily and his eyebrows ran up. _Gosh he must think I'm some kind of stalker student_ , Luna mused and then got up, walked to him and quickly offered her hand. 

"I'm Luna Schiller, an assistant teacher here. I teach Japanese phonology and grammar to first-year students. I missed your introduction earlier, so I thought I'd catch your lecture now."

"Oh", he looked genuinely surprised and took her hand and gently shook it.

"Nice to meet you."

" _Hajimemashite_ ", she replied with a soft bow, and he smiled and bowed in response. 

"Now that we got introduced, would you mind if I asked you where I could find my room? I'm still a little lost here", he said gently and Luna nodded. 

"Sure thing. Where are you going?"

"Umm...", he frowned, reaching into his pocket for a key and looked at its tag.

"173A, Building B".

"Oh wow. Well, Narano-san, it looks like we will share the office", Luna grinned. Cassy will be jealous. _So jealous._


	4. The Fleeting Promise of a Normal Life, pt 3.

Walking the streets at night always calmed him. Somehow the smell of night air was more pleasing to his senses. Moving from France to California was a big decision but it had to be made. He had to move every one-two years, at least, keep changing his location, so that he could live in peace. Before he got the position at the university, he spent two month carefully selecting his apartment, calculating the right location. He had to be at least a 100 miles away from the nearest gate. He chose this university because it was just outside the radius of the two nearest gates, far enough from either of them. In the past few years, the number of gates tripled, which was more than alarming. But he wanted to keep himself away from it all, and just live an everyday life. Like a human. Like a human he would never be, a voice always screamed at the back of his mind, but he shut it off, again. 

He genuinely liked this place. It was a smaller town, quiet and surrounded with nature. He found a small pond in the nearby woods where he could practice his sword skills and train. As much as he wanted to stay out of trouble, he was no fool. He was aware of the danger lurking around him and knew he had to stay in good shape. He spent a couple of hours at the university every day, giving lectures and spent the weekends by the pond training and inhaling nature. It was the kind of life he wanted. The kind of life he knew he wouldn't be able to sustain for long.

Two months into his new job, Ryuu found new friends at the University of Maplewood. He was careful of making real, deep friendships, as he had to leave everything behind in a couple of years, anyways. But it was comforting to know there were people friendly to him, and even if it was superficial, he tried to enjoy every moment. His 'office-mate', Luna, became a regular in his life. She always tried to talk Japanese to him and was furious when he replied in English, just to annoy her. But she was funny and lighthearted, easy to talk to. She was also quite interested in his lectures about mythology and attended whenever she didn't have conflicting schedules. Cassy, the nosy but friendly secretary and her were an item, and he was sincerely bemused watching their interactions. One of his students, Matt Bayson also began to get close to his heart. He was a troublemaker with a big mouth, the only black guy in the class, with unruly dreadlocks and a passion for Japanese video games. He made endless jokes during Ryuu's lectures but suck in knowledge like a sponge and was a lot smarter than most of his teachers thought he was. Ryuu saw through his foolery of jokes and back-chat and saw his rough, real qualities. 

Ryuu, Luna, Cassy and Matt somehow came to spend time together in the evenings, going out for drinks and dinner, talking endless hours at one of their places. They were also always nagging Ryuu to travel with them during the weekends to short trips but he was unwilling to leave the town and its surroundings. There were far too many gates he could accidentally run into, and he wanted to avoid such encounters. It would be dangerous not only for him, but for anyone he was with. 

* * *

Matt was fuming and Luna chuckled. He tended to take things to heart, only to forget about it all the next day.

"He never wants to spend the weekend with us. We invited him so many times, dammit!", he cursed and crossed his arms on his chest.

"How come it doesn't bother you?"

Luna shrugged her shoulders, biting into a sandwich. They were sitting at their favourite cafe, having lunch. Matt got furious at Ryuu, again, who refused to meet them on Sunday. He was readily available any other day, but weekends were kind of taboo. 

"He must have his reasons. Give the guy some slack, Matt", she answered gently and Matt sighed. 

"I'm tellin' ya, that's really unusual. I think he's up to something", he whispered on a low tone and Luna sighed in despair.

"Matt, I think Cassy is being a bad influence on you", she replied, putting her sandwich down, with a scolding look.

He shook his head and leaned closer. "No, really. Cass says she accidentally saw him last Friday packing two swords into his trunk and driving off".

"And?", she asked innocently and Matt started fuming again.

"And?! You don't find this suspicious? He refuses us, then drives away with a pair of swords."

"And what does that all supposed to mean, then?", she asked him looking into his eyes questioningly and Matt's shoulders hunched.

"I've no idea. But it's really strange. What is he doing during the weekends and why is he making excuses? Remember, he told us on Friday that he had to work on his book at home and that's why he was unavailable for the weekend. Yet Cass saw him drive away with some swords in tow." 

Well, as much as Luna hated the thought of Matt being right, it was a little strange, indeed. They became close friends over the past weeks, but of course, that didn't mean they knew everything about each other. 

"Then, go up to him and ask him, if you want to know it so badly", she suggested but Matt rolled his eyes.

"Babe, you think he would tell us, when he is so secretive to begin with?", he asked with a mocking tone and Luna started to be frustrated with him.

"Okay, so what do you suggest then?"

"We should follow him this weekend."

"Oh for god's sake, Matt...", Luna exhaled. "Seriously?"

"Hey, if I'm wrong, I will be the first to apologise. But I really want to know. Don't tell me you are not curious", he looked at her with a mischievous light in his eyes and Luna sighed. 

She was curious. Over the past weeks she grew really fond of Ryuu. He was gentle and nice, always looking for ways to make her smile and to help her. He even volunteered to check her thesis, which she was writing in Japanese. And she couldn't help her heart beating faster every time she looked at him. Yet he became a little aloof come the weekend, and he would disappear for those two days and reappear on Monday morning at the university. She sighed and gave in to Matt's nagging.


	5. The Gates of Nara, pt 1.

"Don't you think this is a little too much?", Luna asked, being a little unsure of whether they were doing the right thing. they were sitting in Matt's old car.

"Do we really need to track him with GPS?", she added sceptically but Matt gave a wide grin. 

"How else would we follow him without him noticing us? He knows my car. Don't worry, it's just a small play gadget I got. We can track him on Google Maps", he said and placed his smartphone into its holder on the dashboard and started the engine. 

As they followed the GPS into the woods Luna felt shiver going down her spine. Was it really right to do this? There was no turning back though, knowing Matt and his persistence. She could only hope they wouldn't offend Ryuu with following him secretly. Ryuu's car apparently stopped at the end of the dirt road in the middle of the nearby woods. As they reached the place, they found his car but he was nowhere to be seen. 

"So what now?", she asked a little disappointed. Matt got out of the car and looked around. 

"There's a pathway there. I think it leads to the pond. I've been here a couple of times as a kid. It's not a very popular place with folks, because the undergrowth is very dense around here, so not a very picknickey place...", he said and waved to her to follow him. Luna heaved a sigh and followed him into the woods. 

They must have walked a good ten minutes, literally working their way through dense bushes, when they heard rustling sounds nearby and Matt put a finger on his lips signalling her to stay quiet. They carefully walked further and then caught sight of him. 

It was Ryuu, on a small clearing near the pond. The clearing looked like it was newly made, someone cut down the undergrowth by the small lake. Luna and Matt hunkered down to stay low and tried not to make any noise. The sight was breathtaking. 

Ryuu was holding two long, beautifully made katana swords, one in each hand, practicing sword fight. His moves were slick, graceful, and incredibly soundless, one could only hear the whooshing sound of the katanas fiercely slicing air. His moves were incredibly fast. He was half-naked, only wearing a pair of black linen pants, barefoot. The rays of the setting sun glistened on his tanned skin, his muscles moved in perfect harmony to his inner rhythm. His eyes were closed and yet he kept perfect balance, even though he kicked air several times and did a back flip without his katanas even touching the grass in the meantime. They were both awestruck and Luna couldn't take her eyes off him. 

She almost wanted to scold Matt for making such a fuss, saying that clearly Ryuu was just indulging in a hobby at weekends, when Ryuu came to a sudden halt in his moves. He was facing the lake, they could only see his back. His muscles became stiff and his grip tightened on the swords. 

The next moment, Luna couldn't believe her eyes.

Dark ink started appearing on Ryuu's back and arms, raven black, thick lines, that were twisting and twirling, as if alive, quickly trailing up his skin, forming curves and motives, reaching up to his neck, and Luna realised, shiver running through her spine, that the moving tattoo formed an inked dragon on his back and in an instant, he turned around, his eyes all black, like a pearl, framed by his long, raven hair. He saw them and with incredible speed, launched at them, raising both katanas above his head in an X-shape.

Luna screamed, and Matt pulled her down to the ground frantically as Ryuu leaped above them and whisked both swords. The sound of clashing swords almost deafened both of them and they realised that Ryuu wasn't launching at them. Turning around, they caught sight of him twisting and twirling his swords and couldn't believe their own eyes. 

He was battling a large, dark man wearing black clothes, who kept losing his human outlines, red fumes tweaking around his frame, forming a spirit-dragon from time to time, then settling into human form again. Ryuu jumped at it, kicked it in the chest and then slashed at its throat with the katanas. The creature shrieked and the human-like form literally evaporated into red fume and then slowly disappeared. Ryuu lowered his swords. He wasn't even panting from the fight. The twisting-twirling-crawling dragon ink started disappearing on his skin and he turned around to face his unwanted visitors. His eyes were back to normal again.

"Whose stupid idea was it to follow me?", he asked on a calm tone and Matt slowly raised one hand, still shivering on the ground from what he saw. 

Luna was equally terrified and her face gave her away. Ryuu felt the familiar ache creep back into his heart. This is why he never wanted to make friends in the first place. But there was no time to feel remorse. They had to move. He stepped closer and reached out a hand to pull Luna up, who was sort of afraid to touch his hand. Ryuu grabbed her hand without asking, and pulled her up, then helped Matt up. 

"We have to move, quickly", he said almost in an authoritative tone and started working his way back to the path through the junglish undergrowth. Matt and Luna couldn't even move from the shock and just stared at him in disbelief. 

"What... was this? What.... happened?", Luna whispered, looking pale and Ryuu heaved a sigh. 

"We really have no time to discuss this, soon more of them will come. They discovered me and they know about you two, as well. We have to get out of this place. Now!", he said firmly, looking stiff and finally Matt nodded, and pulled Luna with himself, following Ryuu through the bushes.

* * *

As they were sitting in Ryuu's modern Jeep, driving through the streets, Luna was biting her lips. Even Matt was unusually quiet, he was also glancing at Ryuu in disbelief mingled with fear. Were they dreaming? Ryuu was unlike himself, he was always warm and kind, but now... Now he looked cold as ice and had a serious look on his face. 

"Where... are we going?", Luna asked on a low voice after a while, sitting on the back seat, while Matt was sitting next to Ryuu. 

Ryuu glanced at her pale face in the mirror and closed his eyes for a second in despair. The rules were ruthless. Humans who discovered what they shouldn't have, had to die. There was only one exception to the rule but that meant he would have to cross the gates. And that would seal his fate. 

"We are going to a safe place. Safe for now, at least", he said calmly and Luna almost felt like crying.

"What is this whole thing...? Who... are you?", she whispered and Ryuu's heart sunk. They should know what was waiting for them but it wasn't easy to tell. 

"If I said that what I'm teaching as mythology is actually real, would you believe it?", he answered, while they took the nearest motorway. 

"What do you mean? That .. dragons actually exist?", Matt asked on a trembling voice and Ryuu nodded. "You saw it with your own eyes."

"Dragons are not exactly like how they are depicted on paintings. That's how people re-imagined them. Dragons are very real, my friend. They are shape-shifters. They are able to take three forms: a full dragon form, a spirit-dragon form - the red fumes you saw - and a human form. Most of them are not allowed to cross the gates of Nara into the human world. If they do, they must be terminated."

Luna suddenly looked up. 

"Nara? Like... your surname? .... Narano Ryuushin... Nara's Dragon Heart...", shivers ran down her spine as she uttered the words and Matt turned around in his seat and stared at her, and then back at Ryuu.

"What...? So... so, you are also a dragon?"


	6. The Gates of Nara, pt. 2

It took them two hours to drive to the outskirts of Los Angeles. Ryuu promised to tell them everything as soon as they arrived, and the rest of the journey was spent in silence. They didn't know what to say and were sitting stiff throughout the road trip. It was almost midnight when they walked up a hill and rang the bell of a small house. 

A short, Asian-looking older man wearing round glasses appeared and didn't at all look surprised. He opened the gate and Ryuu hugged him tight. 

"Master", he said respectfully and the older man smiled at him.

"I knew you would be coming. A new gate opened near your place", he said and then glanced at Matt and Luna.

"You brought them?", he asked questioningly and Ryuu nodded. 

"You know the rules, you will have to cross the gates", he looked at Ryuu with a meaningful glance and Ryuu nodded again. "I know."

The old man quickly rushed them all inside and told them to sit down at the fireplace. He offered them tea. Ryuu went into a small room to change his clothes and the old man introduced himself as Master Lee. 

"I guess, since you have to go with him, you'll need to know where you are going and what will happen to you", he said as he poured them both tea. Both of them looked at him surprised.

"I'm afraid we don't really understand....", Matt began but Master Lee cut him off with a small, graceful move of his hand. 

"A long long time ago", he began, "Japan was ruled by dragons. They were called _tatsu_ , or _Outatsu_ , 'dragon gods'. The gates of their realm, Nara, were open and humans and dragons lived together, and prospered together. It was the most prosperous time in Japanese history. But some dragons became greedy and wanted to subdue the humans and enslave them. War broke out and in the end, the rebellious dragons were punished and the Dragon King decided to close the gates of Nara and not allow humans into their realm, or dragons into the human world. Some gates remained open, from time to time, as dragons needed to trade with humans, still, disguising themselves as human by taking their shape. The gates were closely guarded. But recently, a group of dragons began to rebel again and secretly open up more gates to sneak into the human world and they do a lot of trouble. They kill, they rob, they do shady businesses and try to remove the current Dragon King, who has no issue, no son to take his throne", Lee said calmly, sipping his tea. Luna and Matt were staring at him in disbelief. The old man chuckled.

"You saw it, didn't you? You saw the dragon. And you will see more soon. They opened a new gate and unfortunately they ran into Ryuu", he sighed and glanced at Ryuu, who stepped back into the living room, now wearing tighter pants and a black wrap shirt tied at his waist. 

"So... Ryuu.. you're also a dragon?", Matt asked, now his curiosity taking over and his eyes started to beam. "You mean, a real dragon? Like in those games, who can fly, roar and stuff?"

Master Lee laughed out loud and even Ryuu gave a faint smile, sitting down next to them. He glanced at Luna and then poured himself a cup of green tea. 

"I'm.... not fully a dragon."

"What does that mean?", Luna asked and Ryuu's face darkened. "I'm neither dragon, nor human. I don't really know what I am", he answered and buried his face into the tea cup. Master Lee patted his shoulder with a gentle look on his face.

"Ryuu is half-blood. His father is a dragon, and his mother was human."

Matt's jaw dropped and Luna almost choked on her tea. 

"Is that... even possible?", she whispered in disbelief and Master Lee delightfully chuckled.

"His parents asked the same, too", he pointed at Ryuu with a grin on his face and Ryuu gave a scolding look to the old man. 

"In all seriousness, nobody thought it would be possible. Dragons have had human lovers for thousands of years, well, mostly until the gates were closed. After that, only those few high ranking officials had affairs with humans who could cross the gates. Their relationships never yielded live offspring. Until... well, he is the first ever", Master Lee patted Ryuu's shoulder again and Ryuu heaved a deep sigh and swallowed hard. It was obvious this conversation was very unpleasant for him. Luna felt like jumping up and hugging him but forced herself to remain seated. Ryuu's beautiful face was dark and he looked sad and disturbed. 

"But can you fly and breathe flames?", Matt asked, now all excited and Luna slapped the back of his head to make the younger man shut up. 

"Shut up, Matt, seriously...", she looked at him sternly but Matt shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I can't fly. And Japanese dragons don't breathe fire, you obviously weren't listening to my lectures", Ryuu glanced at Matt and the young man grinned in response. 

"I cannot shape-shift into a dragon. It's probably because of my human genes", he said factually, putting down his tea-cup. 

"But man, you are really fast and those swords. Woosh, woosh", Matt imitated Ryuu's moves with his hands and Ryuu gave a faint smile. 

"I trained him from a small age. He has to defend himself", Master Lee said suddenly on a serious tone, so serious that even Matt finally shut up. 

"You said you were discovered and we had to go to a safe place. That... dragon in the woods, was after you?", Luna asked, suddenly remembering Ryuu's words and felt terrified. Ryuu heaved a sigh and nodded.

"I'm.... I'm fair game to the rebel dragons. They want me dead."

"Why?", Luna asked firmly, though utterly afraid of hearing the answer. Ryuu remained silent. After a short while, it was Master Lee, who answered her question.

"Because of the prophecy. As I said, the Dragon King has no heir to the throne. No dragon heir. But a thousand year old prophecy foretold the coming of a half-blood, who will rule Nara. Nobody ever was able to produce a half-blood, it was just widely considered an old myth... until Ryuu was born. The rebels want him dead."

"Holy shit", Matt dropped his jaws and Luna felt a sudden heartache seeing Ryuu's face as Master Lee uttered the words. It was as if he felt physical pain hearing them. 

"You will have to go to Nara with Ryuu", Master Lee said suddenly, glancing at Ryuu and Ryuu's jaws tightened. Luna frowned.

"You have seen a dragon shape-shift. That's something Nara's laws don't allow for humans since the gates were closed. Humans who see dragons in their dragon forms... have to die", Ryuu said, looking directly at Luna. She froze and her lips started trembling.

"You will ... kill us?", she whispered and Matt looked at Ryuu horrified now, just about to jump up.

"I could have killed you in the woods, without trace, if I wanted to kill you", he answered on a low voice. "There is only one way for you to live, and that is if you pledge loyalty to the Nara throne and swear secrecy in front of the king. He will decide to accept or refuse your loyalty."

"And if he refuses?", Luna asked, still whispering. Ryuu looked at her affirmingly. "He won't. He likes humans."

"Bu..but how would he even know that we saw it? I mean, if you don't tell him, we won't either, so...", Matt mumbled but Ryuu was already shaking his head. 

"No, the dragon I killed wasn't alone. Another one escaped when I started fighting his companion. The rebels know about you and will find you. Dragons have exceptional memory of smells. It is the safest for you to be in Nara under the protection of the king, until he annihilates the rebel group. In the human world out here, you are easy pray to a shape-shifter. You would never suspect it. The human forms of dragons are exactly like any other human out here. They talk like you, they walk like you, they eat the same things. If you want to live, you will need to follow me to Nara."

Ryuu stood up and looked at them firmly. "We need to go next morning. Be prepared to leave everything behind. You cannot bring your cell phones, nor any other human technology to Nara. Don't message or call anyone. If you don't want them to get involved and die. I know this sounds scary, but since you decided to spy on me, you will have to bear the consequences."

Master Lee smiled at the two encouragingly and brought them Japanese style futons to sleep on. 

"Master Lee, it doesn't look like Ryuu is very keen on going to Nara", Luna said while laying down her futon on the ground and Master Lee nodded. 

"He hasn't been to Nara in about 10 years. Ryuu grew up in the human world. The only thing that reminds him of having dragon blood in his veins is his exceptional fight skills."

"And that moving dragon ink tattoo on his skin...", Luna whispered remembering his changed look in the woods. Master Lee smiled. 

"Well, he is stronger and faster than average humans, after all, he has dragon genes."

"And what about his mother? You said she is a human. Is she also in Nara?", she asked innocently and Master Lee gave a faint, sad smile.

"Ryuu is a _shiseiji_. His mother... died when he was a baby", he said, and then wished them goodnight. Matt, who was also listening to the conversation silently, now spoke up on a low voice.

"What is a _shiseiji_ , Luna?"

Luna closed her eyes as she felt tears welling up. "An illegitimate child. An... unwanted child."


	7. The Gates of Nara, pt 3.

Luna could hardly sleep that night, and Matt was equally restless on the futon next to hers. She was staring into the flickering flames of the imitation fireplace they were lying by and her thoughts didn't let her rest for a long time. Was she only dreaming this? Can this really be happening to her? Everything she knew about the world as it was, turned out to be lies. Science, as she trusted it, turned out to be unable to explain the events of the past few hours. The image of the black dragon tattoo twirling and crawling up Ryuu's skin in the last rays of the setting sun burnt into her iris. Was he really a ... creature? She shuddered and quickly scolded herself. Even if everything she heard today happened to be true, Ryuu was still very much human. His face, his expressions, the sadness and pain radiating from his voice. Luna closed her eyes and after a short while, she finally fell asleep.

* * *

In the small room next to the living room where she slept, Ryuu was kept wide awake by his dragon senses. He was alert, every single fiber in his muscles was ready to fight at any moment. He could never consciously regulate this state of his. It was as if his body had a will separate of his own mind and at times, he lost control over his own physicality. Master Lee called it a "dragon instinct". It made his life difficult in middle school, when the human teenage hormones kicked in. His dragon instincts were on fire, and he caused a lot of trouble. One time, at age 14, he beat the crap out of a school bully who was bothering a junior student. He totally lost control over his own abilities and had it not been for a group of strong male teachers who managed to ground him for a minute, he quite possibly could have killed the boy. He had to transfer schools after that incident, and Master Lee started teaching him tai-chi, which helped him to manage the balance of yin and yang energies clashing in his blood. 

That was his master's theory, at least. The old man thought that since he was part human, his human genes caused disruptions in his system, which was dominated by dragon blood. Master Lee hypothesized that since dragons were much more powerful than humans, their genome would dominate over the human genome Ryuu inherited from his mother. And since his system was not 'clear', his human side and his dragon side inevitably had to clash from time to time. It was all just a theory, since nobody had ever seen a half-blood before, nobody knew what would happen. Dragons lived for hundreds of years, his own father was over 500 years old. Nobody knew what the life expectancy of a half-blood would be. He seemed to mature and grow like normal human children, he was just faster and physically much stronger than them. He also had exceptional smelling and hearing capabilities and his eyesight were far superior to an average human's. His capabilities were no match to a fully fledged dragon's, though. 

His thoughts wandered back to Luna and he again started to feel that familiar grip in his chest, as if it were squeezing his heart together. He wasn't able to forget the horror on her face when she saw his dragon side. The ink-like substance started appearing on his skin when he turned 14. It first happened during the fight with the school bully. Fortunately, as he was wearing long sleeves, it wasn't very noticeable to anyone during the chaos that erupted as a result of their fight. He himself noticed it on his hand, as he was lying on the ground under the weight of the teachers pinning him down. Master Lee had no idea what that could be, none of dragons' human forms experienced anything similar. It was as if a dragon slept tucked right under his skin and would wake up any time he was in danger. Like earlier that day, at the lake. As soon as the human forms of the two dragons came near, his blood started boiling and his skin started burning, signalling the wake of the ink-dragon under his skin. His hearing, eyesight and smelling instantly sharpened, and his muscle power became tenfold. 

Dragons were easy to slay in their human forms, as it took them a while to transform first into a spirit dragon and then into a real, physical dragon. Once fully transformed, Ryuu's katanas were useless against their thick skin and rigid scales. As spirit-dragons, they could escape quickly but were unable to harm a human. They had to fight him in their human forms, and as such, Ryuu's capabilities were far superior. He just had to make sure to launch against them fast enough and engage them in a physical fight right away, not to allow them enough time to transform into their full forms. That worked well in the human world, but in Nara, most dragons lived as dragons, and only those fond of the human world would walk around in their human forms. It was like sort of a hippie thing in Nara, to live like a human, have human-sized homes built and eat human food. Some of the dragons liked living this way, his own father included. Probably that's why he had a human lover he called his wife. Ryuu's beautiful face turned into an aggravated grimace at the thought. He hated the pretentious way of life of his father. Pretending to be a human. Getting a woman pregnant. Then leaving her to die and abandon his child. 


	8. The Gates of Nara, pt 4.

"How do you know that the gate is open?", Luna asked as they were swiftly walking through the still dark back alleys in Chinatown, winding little streetlets with hardly any lights. 

They were woken up very early, at 4 am and after a brief breakfast of rice and soup that Master Lee offered them, they had to leave before sunrise. They were quietly following Ryuu, who was dressed in all black, wearing leather boots, tight but flexible pants, a Japanese style wrapped shirt tied tightly at his waist and a leather sheath for his twin katanas on his back. Katanas were usually worn on the hip in their wooden _saya_ , or sheath, but since he carried two, it made sense to wear them on his back instead. As she was walking behind Ryuu, she could examine the _tsuka_ , the handle of his katanas. They were made of silver, or a similar shiny metal, she couldn't decide, and had ornate engravings of dragons and mountains. The eyes of the dragons were made of black pearls. The handles were also longer than a usual tsuka, possibly to allow him to get a better grip on them when pulling them from behind his back. Luna shivered at the thought.

"The gates of Nara can only be opened by dragon blood. Once opened, they will remain open for half an hour, after that, dragon blood is again needed to reopen it", he said as he stopped in front of the door of an abandoned, old building. It had an Asian roof and an old, faded wooden board above the door told visitors this must have been a Japanese restaurant many years before. As he reached out to open the door, his body suddenly stiffened and he looked up suddenly, his nostrils dilated as if he smelled something foul. He pushed the door open and turned to Luna and Matt. His eyes were pitch black and they could see the black ink tattoos on his hand. Luna started trembling. 

"Go in and duck down, and be very, very quiet. Dragons are approaching us", he whispered and ushered them into the building. Filled with dust and spiderwebs, it wasn't very welcoming but it was surely better than meeting dragons. Ryuu remained outside, ready to pull his katanas any time. Matt dragged Luna down under the window and they peeked out. Someone was indeed coming. 

They looked like ordinary people. One of them was wearing shredded jeans and a Chicago Bulls tank top, he appeared to be blond in the low lighting and was casually smoking. The other, much taller and muscular, had dark hair and a scar on his face, and was wearing army boots. They had a creepy grin on their faces, as they walked towards Ryuu. 

"Well, well", the blond laughed, "who do my precious eyes see here?", he said in Japanese and the other chuckled. 

"The half-blood, isn't he? He has a really... interesting smell", the dark-haired noted frowning and the other put his cigarette out with his sneakers. 

"He doesn't smell like dragons, and doesn't smell like humans, either. A scent...", he took a long, deep breath and closed his eyes, "a scent you cannot forget."

Ryuu remained silent. The two were possibly nearby when they arrived and smelled him from afar. He was sure none of them were the dragon that escaped him at the lake. That was fortunate, as these had no smell memories of his human friends. Since they were in the human world, with many humans around them, they wouldn't specifically notice the two hiding in the building, unless they were paying attention. But they were obviously much more focused on him and that gave him an advantage: he didn't have to worry about his friends while finishing these two. They weren't particularly powerful, he could tell. They belonged to the petty criminals who used the illegally opened gates to enjoy the human world. 

"You know, I was always curious to meet you, half-blood", the blond uttered, almost spat the words out with disgust. 

"Folks say you are _terrific_ fighter", he sneered, "but honestly, I only see a small human who looks like a girl". They both laughed. 

Ryuu gave a faint smile and stepped away from the door of the old restaurant, into the dimly lit part of the alley. He lifted a middle finger at them smiling and the two dragons started boiling with anger.

The dark-haired attacked first, trying to knock Ryuu out with a punch, but it was an easy catch. Ryuu twisted his arm and a powerful kick sent the human form of the dragon into the opposite wall with a bang. The creature groaned while the blonde watched the short-lived fight astonished. Then he launched himself at Ryuu, with a series of flying kicks, but Ryuu was much faster. He blocked all of his attacks and handed out a few of his own well-planted punches, distorting the blond's otherwise pretty human face. The blond was much more agile than his better-built buddy and he was fueled by a deep hatred against Ryuu. As the blond fished out a knife from his pocket and launched at him, Ryuu ran up the brick wall opposite the restaurant and as he did a back flip from it, he pulled out both katanas from the sheath on his back and before landing securely on his two feet, slashed the blond from behind. The creature shrieked and the blonde evaporated into yellowish smoke. The human disguise was useful for dragons, but it was extremely fragile. Once the human form was killed, the spirit-dragon could not return to its dragon body and dispersed into the universe. 

The dark-haired started to come to his senses and Ryuu waited for him to get up. He wasn't a coward to kill an unconscious opponent, no matter how dangerous that might have been. He flashed his katanas at him and the dark-haired pressed himself against the wall. There was utter fear in his eyes. Ryuu shook his head at him, signalling him to flee, and the dragon immediately turned around and ran as fast as he could. Ryu put his twin katanas back into the sheath with a slick move and he felt the firing boil in his veins calm down. His tattoos have withdrawn and his eyes cleared up. He immediately approached the door of the old building, as he knew, they had no time to waste. 

Luna and Matt were silently watching his fight, if in an awe. It was incredible witnessing Ryuu's superhuman prowess and sleek, elegant moves. As he stepped in, they both stood up and Luna dusted the knees of her pants off. 

"Man, that was something else! Holy fuck! It's incredible", Matt oozed with excitement. "That back flip, I say! Whoa! Nobody would guess you're a history prof, man", he laughed and Ryuu gave a faint smile. 

"I wish I could only be a history prof, believe me", he noted and looked at Luna.

"Are you all right?"

"Sure, yes. I'm just... taken aback. I guess, i will need some time to get used to this", she murmured and bit her lips. "You didn't get hurt, either, right?", she asked and Ryuu shook his head smiling. 

"Hurt? Didn't you see it? They couldn't even scratch him or break a hair on a him", Matt laughed and patted Ryuu on the shoulder. "Man, you're my hero."

Ryuu smiled and then waved to them to follow him. They walked out into the backyard of the building, where a small, dried out fountain was placed, its tiles already cracked and dirty. 

"Listen to me carefully", Ryuu turned to them with a serious look on his face. 

"Humans can only enter Nara under dragon supervision. You can never, never, leave my side until we reach the palace and the king approves of your status. If you do, you are free prey to any dragon in the realm. I know this is not easy for you. I know that this is scary... Please trust me, I will protect you whatever happens."

Matt signaled an okay with his hand and Luna nodded. They had no other choice, but to follow Ryuu and trust his words. Ryuu turned back to the fountain and pulled one of his katanas out, slightly pricking his left thumb and squeezing his blood out, into the fountain. Luna and Matt both gasped, as the air started to become smokey, and a gust of wind appeared, pulling the smoke to either side of the fountain, an opening appearing. 

"Come with me", Ryuu said and gently took Luna's hand. He looked at her assuringly and she hesitantly nodded. He glanced at Matt and he also nodded. They stepped into the opening and walked a few steps in darkness. It appeared that they were in the same building, but the fountain there was new and intact, shining in bright blue colors and the surrounding backyard was lively with flowers and green plants. They stopped and Luna frowned at Ryuu, but he wasn't looking at them. He was looking at two humans, standing at the gate leading out of the backyard. They were dressed in samurai attire and both had katanas pulled out. 

"Humans cannot enter here. You know the rules", one of them said and Ryuu nodded. 

"These humans come with me to the king for an audience. I take full responsibility", he said and the guard nodded. 

"Understood, _denka-san_. Please proceed", they both bowed slightly and Ryuu nodded to Matt to follow him and Luna. He was still holding her hand. They walked past the guards and the gate opened. 

They walked out into witnessing the rising sun over a vast green valley surrounded by dark-green, high mountains. 


	9. The King's Palace pt. 1.

"We will take the dirt road through the forest, instead of the normal road. There are too many dragons who dislike real humans and they can stir trouble until you have official approval from the king. It's better to move quietly and unnoticed", Ryuu explained as they entered the woods and started moving towards the King's Palace.

"How far are we?", Matt asked and Ryuu pondered over the possibilities for a moment. 

"As far as I can remember, it is a few hours' walk on foot. Two, maybe three."

"As far as you can remember? Do you actually know the route?", Matt chuckled and Ryuu smiled at him.

"I haven't been to Nara in about 10 years. But I think I'll manage", he assured them. They were now walking next to each other, following a dirt road cutting through the pine forest. 

"How often did you come here?", Luna asked suddenly and Ryuu didn't answer her for a few moments. 

"I have only been here once", he said finally and Matt came to a full stop in disbelief. 

"What? Seriously? You said you know this place."

"I know this place. Remember, I'm partially dragon, I also have a smell memory like all dragons, and my eyesight is sharper than humans. Believe me when I say, I know where we are heading", Ryuu answered calmly and Matt reluctantly started walking again and caught up with his friends' pace. 

"How come you only came once?", he asked and Ryuu shook his head. 

"I don't belong here. Not as if I belonged to humans. But at least in the human world I don't stick out like a sore thumb, well, most of the time, at least. Here, dragons all turn heads as I go by, they all know that I'm the half-blood. You heard the bastard in the alley. I have a distinct, unmistakable smell to dragon nostrils.

"Your dragon father... He lived in the human world, too?", Luna asked, her curiosity taking over her own fears of being in a foreign land. Another realm. 

"No. He never lived in the human world for long. He is an occasional visitor there."

"Then... your mom lived here? With the dragons?", Matt chimed in and Ryuu nodded. 

"There are humans in Nara, mostly servants and other servicepeople, providing human goods and services to dragons who like to prance around in human forms", he said on a sarcastic voice and Luna felt her heart squeeze. There was so much pain and hatred oozing from his words. 

"My mother was merely a toy. Some dragons like the way humans find... joy in sexual intercourse. Dragon mating is very asexual, has nothing to do with pleasure. But since dragons can transform into human bodies, they have human bodily functions too. They eat, they poop, they fuck", he said matter-of-fact-like, with a painful overtone and his jaws were tight. Luna suddenly felt sorry that they asked such questions to him. 

"And they all did that knowing that they are free to fuck as many women as they like, since it was widely believed that dragon blood and human blood are incompatible, or in other words..."

"Mating between different species cannot yield offspring", Luna finished the sentence and Ryuu nodded with a dry, bitter smile. 

"Until I was born. Nobody really knows how that happened. Some dragons became afraid and stopped having human lovers after that. Others became encouraged, they also wanted to try and beget a half-blood. Nobody could. So some of them decided that I am dangerous to dragonkind."

"And... this is the land of dragons. Are you not in danger now? You said they can smell you", Luna asked worried but Ryuu shook his head.

"I'm safe in Nara, at least in most regions under the king's control. I hope we don't need to venture into rebel territory", he sighed. Luna frowned.

"If you are safe in Nara, why don't you live here, with your father? It would be easier than fighting dragons in the human world. I don't understand the logic."

"I can't live in Nara. I'm not a dragon, nor I am anyone's toy or servant. As a free .... person, who is neither human, nor dragon, I cannot be accepted here. I can visit, stay for a little while, but I have to leave. There's a royal ordinance against half-bloods. It was issued shortly after I was born and the dragons decided they wanted to keep the unwanted creature out of their realm. Possibly because they were afraid of consequences, should other dragons manage to beget more half-bloods". His voice became distorted with silent rage and he had to take deep breaths to calm down. Entering Nara further deepened his scars and he knew the more time he would spend here, the deeper his pain would get. 

"So the dragons are no better than humans, eh? They have ordinances and kings and stuff", Matt shook his head in disdain and Ryuu almost laughed.

"Dragons ruled Earth for much longer than humans. Humans learnt everything from dragon overlords they believed were Gods. Look at how most cultures feared and worshipped dragons. Those are remnants of a past era. Dragons didn't only rule Japan, they ruled everything on this planet. Most dragon species died out long before humans appeared and others were killed in a gruesome battle among dragonkind. Not only humans have world wars. Dragons did, too. They fought over territories and resources. But then some of the dragons became really greedy and wanted to enslave humankind, instead of just being Gods to them. The gates were forcibly closed and the war between dragons continued for decades. The White King emerged as the winner, and Japanese dragons remained the only species living in the realm we now call Nara. He was badly injured in the war, but the old bastard is as tough as leather, he doesn't yield easily. He has ruled Nara for over 450 years now."

"Wow", Matt exhaled as they continued their way, now through a small clearing. High up in the sky, a shadow flew by and Ryuu quickened his steps. 

"Hurry up. A dragon just flew by, I don't know if it noticed us. Let's get back into the woods. The pine scent is very strong, it can mask us from flying dragons", he said and they rushed over to the other side of the clearing, into the forest again. Luna was happy she didn't see the dragon. She wasn't sure she was ready yet to see a real one, in real dragon form.

As the pine trees became more scarce, they approached a hill and immediately saw the large, white palace. It was breathtaking. Clean Japanese architecture - or what they believed to have been human Japanese all along - imposing and magnificent. The rims of the roofs had a black lining to them, it all looked like a page from a fairy tale. There was no time to stand in awe, as Ryuu rushed them to the palace gates, where fully armored palace guards were standing at. To Luna and Matt's surprise, they immediately moved away without so much as a word, and bowed. Seeing their astonished looks, Ryuu smiled.

"The king already knows we are here. He is the largest dragon in the realm and also one of the oldest surviving. He could smell us approaching already, I bet. The guards already knew we were coming."

"Dope...", Matt groaned and Luna suddenly grabbed Ryuu's hand. He looked at her with questioning eyes and noticed she was trembling. She was frightened.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you. I told you, the king is fond of humans. He saved humankind, after all, when he fought to close Nara's gates to prevent the rebels from enslaving humans. You are safe in his palace. I promise", he said gently, and Luna reluctantly nodded. Matt was already occupied with looking around and marveling at the incredible craftsmanship of the building, as they moved through, palace guards slightly bowing to them along the way. 

As they approached the inner quarters, they noticed a man coming towards them. He was wearing silk white robes, he had white hair, long lush locks flowing around his immaculately carved features. He was breathtakingly handsome and despite his white hair, looked to be in his late thirties. His elegant moves were effortless, he was almost floating and walked soundless. His dark brown eyes were filled with happiness -- and sadness at the same time. He was smiling.

Their steps met in a small garden between the inner quarters and the outer quarters of the palace and Ryuu suddenly let Luna's hand go, to lift his hand up and place it on his heart. He bowed slightly in front of the white robed older man but his face was expressionless.

"Your Majesty", he said coldly and Luna returned her gaze to the older man. He would be the king? The White King... The name suited its owner properly. 

"Ryuushin....", the king smiled, and his voice was filled with genuine joy. He had a deep, velvet voice, very pleasant and not unlike Ryuu's. 

"I never thought you would cross into the kingdom again", he said in English, his gaze now shifting to Ryuu's companions.

"I'm guessing you are here because of them."

"They are my friends. They... accidentally witnessed a transformation", Ryuu replied dryly and Luna saw how stiff his whole body was. He was clearly uncomfortable in front of the king, although the king had a peaceful and relaxed aura around him. And a very pleasant smell. 

The king nodded, with a saddened look in his eyes and waved to a palace guard. The guard bowed.

"Have a decree issued that the two humans who just entered Nara are under my protection", he told the guard and then turned to the newcomers.

"May I have your names, dear?", he asked politely and Matt immediately offered his hand to shake, to which Luna started panicking but to her surprise the king took Matt's hand and shook it.

"I'm Matt Bayson, and it's awesome that you're a king!", he said enthusiastically and king gave a pleasant-sounding, charming laugh and shook Matt's hand again.

"Nice to meet you, Matt-san. I'm the White King, but you can call me Shirojin. I actually really don't like when friends address me like 'your majesty'. It's so .. unnatural, isn't it?", he glanced at Ryuu but Ryuu's jaws tightened and he looked away. Shirojin turned to Luna next and she now also offered her hand.

"Luna... Schiller. Nice to meet you, Your... Shirojin-san", she said finally, a little embarrassed and the king bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you for ... um... understanding our situation", she added, not knowing what say to the king's generosity. 

"Don't worry, dear", he smiled at her, and then turned to the palace guard, instructing him to write down the names of the guests for the decree and sent him off. 

"Shall we move inside? Would you like something to eat? A drink, perhaps?", he asked casually and both Luna and Matt were astonished. They didn't really imagine the king of the dragon realm to be this casual. And to walk around in human form. They followed him inside, with Ryuu tagging along last. He really looked like he despised the whole place, and Luna couldn't get her mind off it. 

They sat down at a small round table, placed on the ground in Japanese style, so they had to sit cross-legged. They were served hot tea and snacks and all of it was amazingly delicious. Ryuu didn't touch anything on his plate, he was sitting with his arms crossed on his chest, staring into distance, and away from the king. Even Matt noticed his strange demeanor.

"Hey, Ryuu, you're not hungry?", he asked and Ryuu shook his head. Shirojin's face darkened for a moment and then his bright smile returned.

"How did you get to know Ryuushin?", he asked them and Luna and Matt told him the story and Shirojin smiled at them, and then glanced at Ryuu. Luna noticed something strange. It was as if there were yearning in the way he looked at Ryuu.

"So you became a professor", he said on a warm tone and nodded. "You always liked history a lot, so it fits."

Ryuu became visibly annoyed and with a sudden move, got up from the table. 

"What do you know about me? You don't know anything", he spat the words out and turned his back on all of them, hurriedly leaving the room. He was still wearing his katanas. The silence became palpable as Luna tried to recover from the shock. She was about to get up, calling Ryuu's name but the king gently touched her shoulder and shook his head.

"Let him go. It's not easy for him to be in the same room with me", he said, now pure pain radiating from his velvet voice. He put his teacup down and watched their astonished faces.

"How much do you know?", the king asked and Matt gave a reluctant 'hm'. 

"We were told that he is a half-blood and because of that some dragons consider him dangerous and want to... kill him."

Shirojin lowered his head. 

"Did he talk to you about... his father?"

"Um.. he said that his father likes to live like a human and that his mother was his sex toy", Matt said bluntly and Luna poked his side with her fist to remind him of his manners. The king's lips tightened and pain ran through his beautiful face. To her astonishment, she noticed tears in the corner of his eyes. 

And then she remembered the guard's words at the gate. _Denka-san_. His Highness.

* * *

"Ryuu... is your son", Luna whispered perplexed and Matt looked at her taken aback, "What?"

The king slowly opened his eyes and gave a faint, tired smile. 

"He hates me for it. And I cannot blame him", the king sighed and poured himself and his two companions more tea.

He looked at Luna, as she was restlessly glancing towards the entrance where Ryuu left and his experienced eyes immediately noticed her feelings. He read human women like a book, that is why it was so easy for him to seduce them. This young human woman had feelings for Ryuu and that saddened him and made him happy at the same time. Ryuu was cursed to bear the burden of being the only member of his own species, and that rendered him lonely and isolated. If he could have a companion, it may be easier for him to cope. 

"I heard the guard at the gate call Ryuu _denka-san_ ", Luna looked at the king and Matt frowned.

"Denka? That's... prince?", he scraped the meaning out of his memory. His Japanese was not as fluent as Luna's.

The king nodded. Luna was now utterly confused.

"I don't understand... Ryuu said he was not welcome here, that... there was a royal decree forbidding him to live here", she said and the king nodded again.

"That's all true."

"You... issued a decree against your own son?", Matt asked with his jaws on the floor, "I'm not surprised he's kinda mad at you", he said on a much lower voice and Luna poked his side again, to shut him up. "You're talking to the king of this place", she squeezed the words through her teeth, on as low a voice as she could.

"It's okay. He didn't say anything untrue", the king smiled at Luna with sadness in his composure.

"I had no choice. Although I am the king, most laws are made by the Council and the Council decided that a half-blood was dangerous to dragonkind. I could have gone against the Council, of course, but that would have meant war. Bloody war. I didn't want to break the peace we have had for hundreds of years", the king said on a kind voice and closed his eyes again. 

"But Ryuushin is still my son. Half-blood or not, he has the blood of a king in his veins. It is only appropriate that at least he can retain his title, even if in exile. Everyone serving me has to address him as _denka_. "

"Master Lee... said that Ryuu is a _shiseiji_... As far as I know, illegitimate children cannot have royal titles. At least, in the human Japan", she lowered her head and Shirojin heaved a sigh. She was smart. Of course, Ryuushin's woman would be a smart woman.

"It's ... not an official title, indeed. My servants call him _denka_ because I told them so. But he is not in the royal family register, you are right. Officially, I don't have any living offspring", he heaved another sigh and opened his eyes. 

"The ladies are waiting outside the second door", he motioned with his hand gracefully towards the other exit of the room, "please follow them and they will show you your rooms. They will also prepare you clothes, as I see you could not bring anything with you. Of course, it would have been burdensome to come with a backpack", he chuckled slightly, his cheerfulness returning and Luna wondered about the true feelings of the king. At times it seemed like he was in real pain, only to be refuted by cheerful smiles and laughter later. Ryuu definitely inherited his charm, she concluded and then trembled. Ryuu probably wasn't too happy about that, anyways. And where did he go?


	10. The King's Palace, Pt 2.

Luna marveled at the clothes she was given. They were not traditional Japanese clothes, as she would have expected, seeing how everyone else in the palace was dressed. The clothes neatly placed on her futon in the luxurious room she was issued were modern human clothes. Well, not the latest fashion trend, but they were nice. Jeans and a blue knitted pullover, beautiful satin lingerie and sneakers. A small dresser beside her futon was also full of human female clothes. Ryuu mentioned that the dragons were trading with humans. She wondered why the king would have female human clothes in his palace, when all his servants were dressed traditionally. Maybe, he had human lovers still? She was glad to change her clothes though, as she was now wearing the same items for two days. She took a bath that was prepared for her in a big wooden tub and then put the jeans and pullover on. 

She peeked out of her room into the corridor but didn't see anyone, so decided to go look for Matt. They were given rooms according to Japanese tradition, that is, Matt was confined to the male quarter and she was given a room in the female quarter. The king's private quarters were in the middle, so she had to cross over, albeit on tiptoes, as she knew she wasn't traditionally allowed to step into the men's quarters. 

"It suits you", she heard the velvet voice from behind as she tiptoed into a salon and she was startled. Shirojin walked up to her and examined her outfit carefully.

"Oh, I really like them. Thank you for your kindness. I didn't think you would have modern clothes here. Ryuu said that everything modern had to be left in the human world."

"We try to live traditionally. Well, as much as we can. Of course, the human world has changed a lot and dragons visiting the outside world need to adapt. But here, in Nara, time has stopped. For most of us, at least. These are my late wife's clothes. I never gave them to anyone, but I thought you might be more comfortable in this kind of attire than a kimono. Your height and body frame is almost similar", he smiled gently and Luna's heart launched into a rush. 

"Your late wife...? You mean, Ryuu's mother?", she whispered, touching her jeans gently, in an awe. Shirojin nodded.

"Yes. Her name was Mary Anne. And she was beautiful and smart, just like you", he complimented her and Luna blushed. 

"Mary Anne?", she realized suddenly, "She was American?"

Shirojin nodded slightly again. "Yes, we met in New York."

"Wow... I... I don't know what to say. You are very kind", she smiled when suddenly she felt a hand grabbing hers.

"Don't be fooled", she turned around and faced Ryuu, who appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her hand.

"Dragons are masters of seduction. Human women can't resist dragon charm. And his majesty is quite an expert in the field", he said on a cold, dry voice and Luna squeezed his hand lightly, looking straight at him.

"I don't think your father intends to seduce _me_."

"You can never know. You're as good as any other human woman. And an easy target, living in the palace", he looked straight into Shirojin's eyes and his words must have sincerely hurt the king as he hissed and his posture became stiff. 

"Ryuu...", Luna tried to pacify him by placing her hand on his chest but he shook his head.

"You don't know him yet. This is just the facade, Luna. Just wait until the real dragon appears. Believe me, you won't find him so charming anymore", he hissed between his teeth and pulled Luna out of the room. 

* * *

Shirojin watched them from the windows of his suit room, as Ryuu dragged Luna all the way down the numerous stairs into the garden and they seemed to be arguing. The pain that flooded his heart was almost unbearable. He hoped that Ryuu's hatred and anger towards him would slowly lessen over time and after a while they could at least talk to each other normally. But nothing has changed. His son was as fiery and fiercely hateful as ten years ago, when he last came to Nara. He just turned 20, became of age and Master Lee brought him to Nara, so he could officially see his father. 

Shirojin never met Ryuu face to face before that. He had taken sneak peeks at his life now and then, visiting him when he slept, watching him from afar, but never talked to him. He had to become a warrior first, he had to be able to defend himself against the dragons thirsty to spill his blood. When both he and Master Lee thought Ryuu was ready, he came to Nara. But his reaction when they met was unlike anything he expected. Ryuu raged, he launched at his father with his bare hands, howling and growling, and had Shirojin not been a skilled human fighter himself, Ryuu could have broken his father's neck. Even then, at 20, he was incredibly strong, his strikes had so much power, Shirojin suffered sever bruises and a few broken ribs while trying to defend himself without hurting his son. He didn't let the palace guards touch him, and thus the only way for him to stop Ryuu was to transform. 

That was the first time Ryuu had seen a dragon transform from human form into full dragon, and the experience shocked him, halted him and Shirojin saw fear in his son's eyes for the first time. As he was hovering over the palace garden in his full dragon form, his wings generating gusts of strong winds, Ryuu pulled a katana out of a palace guard's sheath with a quick, swift move. Shirojin thought he would try to spear him with the katana, which would have been a useless move, due to his thick, scaled skin, but Ryuu held the katana against his own throat and pulled it along swiftly. Shirojin's frantic, desperate howl echoed through the palace walls as he witnessed his son's body fall limp on the ground, blood gushing out of his throat.

It took weeks for Ryuu to recover, it was fortunate that the palace doctors could save his life before he could have bled out. Ryuu was ready to take his own life, rather than accept his origins. After that incident, Shirojin stopped visiting him in secret. He didn't want to get caught, especially that Ryuu's senses developed fast. The older he got, the stronger his skills became and Shirojin knew that he would have caught him spying. He didn't want to risk another incident, or upset his son any more. Ryuu hated the dragon blood in his veins, and there was nothing he could do to change that. He desperately closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Ryuu was alive, nothing else mattered. And now, because of a human incident, he could finally see him again, which did warm his heart, in spite of knowing that Ryuu hated every moment they had to spend close to each other. He could at least watch his son a little longer. He will have to stay, because he wouldn't leave his friends alone in Nara, Shirojin knew this much. 

* * *

"Why are you doing this? What's wrong with you? You've been restless ever since we came here", Luna pulled her hand out of Ryuu's as they reached the garden. A large vein was throbbing on his neck as he tried to suppress his anger. He was livid, his blood boiling ever since he got sight of the king.

"You didn't pay attention, did you?", he asked sarcastically and Luna could almost hit him. 

"You don't like your dad, it's pretty clear, I'm not stupid, Ryuu. But the way you behave here is just... inexplicable. He's been nothing but patient and kind with you, and all of us. Welcoming total strangers into his home just because they came with his son. Yes, you are right, I have no idea what your problem is. That he's a dragon? That your mother was his lover?", she asked straightforward, looking desperately into his eyes and his jaws tightened and his eyes were burning with pain.

"You don't know anything", he hissed in between his clenched teeth, turning away from her. Luna grabbed his arm and forcefully turned him around to face her.

"I know this much, Ryuu. He kept his wife's belongings. These are your mother's clothes I'm wearing. He must have loved her if he kept her things for so long. If he was really just seducing women left and right, why would he feel attached to the personal belongings of one of his 'toys' as you claim her to be?", she asked imploring and touched Ryuu's tight jaws with her fingers. This was the first time she ever touched his face and Ryuu suddenly felt incredible pain squeezing his heart. She was so naive, so very naive and impressionable.

"His wife's belongings? My mother wasn't his wife, no matter how much he likes to call her that. She was a concubine he seduced during a trip to New York. She fell for him, all women do. He's incredibly charming, isn't he? So elegant, and whimsical, and beautiful, his human form is. He enchanted her, like he did to many, many women during his long life. Did he tell you that when his 'wife' arrived to his palace, he still had a queen?", he spat the word wife with disgust and then gave a laugh, a dry, bitter laugh. "His dragon queen died just a few years ago. My mother was nothing but a plaything", he pushed Luna's hand off his face and stepped away.

"Go back to your lodging, enjoy what the palace can give, and don't be surprised if you wake up one day in my beautiful dragon father's bed", he hissed and turned around, leaving her in the garden taken aback, in tears and trembling in shock.


	11. The King's Palace, Pt 3

Ryuu didn't show up for dinner, which she shared with Matt, the king and the the king's current human concubine in his private quarters. Ryuu was right to an extent, Shirojin seemed to be fond of human women, and apparently he has had his fair share of lovers even after Mary Anne's death. The concubine was really beautiful, she was Mexican, with long black hair and olive skin, but she didn't talk much. It didn't seem like Shirojin was particularly invested in her, as she just silently listened to their conversation, and wasn't involved, at all. She smiled from time to time, and as soon as she finished her dinner, she excused herself and retreated to her room. 

"You were surprised, weren't you?", Shirjon asked gently after the concubine left, directing the question to Luna. She hesitantly nodded. 

"I need a companion. I would be just too lonely living here in this big palace all alone. I have no family left", he smiled gently and took a bite of the chocolate dessert they were served. 

"I love chocolate. It's so decadent. So fitting for humankind."

"Can I... ask you a personal question?", Luna looked at him pleading and the king nodded. 

"Ryuu said that... you had a queen while his mother was living in this palace with you... Is that..?"

"Yes, it is true", Shirojin patted his full lips with a napkin with an elegant move and put his hand down on the table, his fingers absentmindedly fiddling with the napkin. Matt was unusually quiet and wriggled in his seat uneasily.

"Dragons mate for life. Jade became my queen 400 years ago and bore me six offspring. Four sons, two daughters. She was a wonderful queen, an able fighter and a good mother. We were friends, never anything more. Just like in the human kingdoms, dragon kings don't get to choose a queen. They are betrothed to strengthen partnerships and relations. She was a Chinese dragon and by marrying her, I could ensure that the Chinese dragons were on our side when the war broke out. She didn't have any issues with me ... hm... how to say this... looking for pleasure elsewhere?", he hummed thinking and laughed as Luna blushed at his words. 

"She had her own very favourite human soldiers, you know", he winked at them both. "She was especially fond of black men", he grinned at Matt, "she would have fancied you". Matt cleared his throat, visibly embarrassed and the king patted him on the shoulder laughing. 

"What happened to your ... other children?", Luna asked silently, hesitating, not knowing whether it was appropriate to ask. Shirojin heaved a sigh. 

"I lost them all in the war. My sons were of fighting age, they fought alongside me in the battles. My daughters were still dragonets, not fledged fully. Two of my sons died in my arms. One got killed in the Southern region, which is very mountainous and there are a lot marshes in the valleys. My soldiers weren't able to retrieve his body, it's too far away and in the middle of the war, it was impossible to transport it back to the capital. His body was burned there to ashes. My youngest son disappeared in battle, he was never found. He is also possibly resting in the marshes somewhere in the South", Shirojin said on a low voice, his eyes gazing into the distance. "My daughters were killed on the road, while a group of palace guards were escorting my family to a safer place. They were ambushed." 

Luna felt herself trembling. "I'm so sorry. And please forgive me that I forced you to remember such painful memories", she whispered. Shirojin shook his head.

"You didn't force me. Believe me, if I don't want to tell about something, I won't. And it's okay. It was a long, long time ago and time helps to heal wounds. A parent cannot really get over losing his children, but the pain does ease a little over time. I told you this because I want you both to understand that Ryuu is important to me. He is my only living child. And the child the only woman I ever truly loved bore me. Of course, I know, that one day I will inevitably lose him, because he seems to age like humans, and dragons live much longer. I'm 500 years old, and because of this my human appearance ages much slower. I think my human body would be around 40 years old. If nothing major happens, I may still live 2-300 hundred years. I am probably going to witness my son's departure. But it matters, the time you can spend together with your loved ones. And Ryuu is almost 30 now. There is nothing else that I wish for but to be able to be with my son for the rest of his life. But... he won't allow that, and it pains me greatly", he said, his voice cracking and he heaved a big sigh. 

"I shouldn't be burdening you with all this information, but you are Ryuu's friends. Maybe you could help to pacify his heart", he looked at them both with a pleading look in his eyes. Matt glanced over to Luna and then they both nodded.

* * *

Ryuu decided not to spend the night in the palace quarters. Right below the palace lay the buildings for all the servants and the palace guards. He chose to spend the night in the old house of his Master, which was left intact after Master Lee voluntarily left Nara to help raise him. As he stepped into the traditional Japanese layout, he was surprised to find Master Lee sitting on the floor, enjoying tea. 

"Master?", he asked astonished and Lee smiled, without opening his eyes. "I thought you wouldn't want a room in your father's palace", he sighed and motioned to Ryuu to sit down. "Tea?"

Ryuu accepted a cup and the warm liquid helped to ease his muscle tension a little. He walked around all day flexing his muscles, as if ready to fight an imaginary enemy. His whole body was now sore, like after a serious workout. Master Lee stood up and brought a small table in with food and placed it between themselves. 

"Eat, you need to replenish your energy", he said strictly and Ryuu diligently followed the advice. He didn't realize how hungry he was until he took the first bite into the cooked ginseng chicken. It was traditional Chinese food, and Ryuu guessed that it was specially prepared for Lee. 

"How did I get here, you wonder", Lee was reading his thoughts and Ryuu glanced up at him, munching on a thigh and then licked his lips.

"Shirojin sent a messenger to my place to bring me over. I haven't met him yet, but ... it seems like he needs advice on military strategy. There will be war, Ryuu", the master said on a serious voice and sipped some tea. Ryuu swallowed the bite and put the unfinished chicken down. Lee used to be the chief military adviser to Shirojin before he was tasked to babysit the king's half-blood bastard. Ryuu always wondered why a high-ranking official would throw away his career and his whole life to raise someone else's unwanted child. He could never bring himself to ask the question aloud, afraid of all the possible answers.

"The rebels?", he asked and Lee nodded. 

"They occupied yet another province and are moving closer to Central Nara. The king has to make preventive measures if he doesn't want to wake up one day finding them knocking on his door with a battering-ram. They are also opening up too many gates, causing more and more serious issues in the human world. There have been serial murders by dragons recently, and they started to smuggle human drugs to Nara."

Ryuu's jaws tightened. Nara could get ruined and a lot of people and dragons would suffer. 

"He's expecting us in his quarters in the morning", Lee finished his cup of tea and put his old hand onto Ryuu's.

"You have to come. The rebels know about your friends, and while they might be safe in the palace for now, if the war breaks out, the rebels will do anything to deal a blow to the king. They will target you even more, and along with you, your friends. Just like they did back then, mercilessly butchering your father's defenseless small children. If they manage to get to you and take you down, the king will lose his right mind. He has to be mentally stable to steer Nara out of this". Master Lee looked unusually serious, his face now seemed to be older and more haggard. Ryuu clenched his fingers into a fist. 

"Why do we need to be dragged into this?"

"You are already dragged into this because of your reckless human friends", Lee raised his voice and Ryuu was taken aback. He never heard his master shout, not once during his entire life. 

"They became your weakness, especially the woman", Lee uttered sounding extremely annoyed and stood up. 

"Master...", Ryuu whispered in disbelief but Lee looked at him sternly, folding his hands behind his back. 

"I heard you in the garden, you sounded like a jealous marshmallow. How can you be jealous of your own father? For heaven's sake Ryuu, he wouldn't ever touch your woman. Whatever you think of him, he has morals."

Ryuu clenched his teeth and forcibly let a sigh out to calm his blood that started boiling again.

"He's not my woman", he hissed and was astonished at Lee's reaction. The old man laughed wholeheartedly and nodded. 

"Yeah, yeah. Tell this to the dragon in your heart", he pointed at Ryuu's hands and the younger man looked down at them. His dragon ink tattoos were out and they were burning his skin. 


	12. The Dragon Within Pt 1.

As they entered the king's strategic room, Ryuu noticed two other figures. One of them definitely smelled like human, the other was a dragon in human form. Shirojin was sitting at the head of the table and motioned to them to take the seats on his right. 

"Thank you for coming", the king said with a gentle smile as they sat down, Ryuu intentionally choosing to sit farther away from his father. 

"Master, I think you remember my good friend, General Matsumoto", he motioned towards the man sitting on his left and Lee nodded smiling.

"Long time no see, General." 

Matsumoto smiled likewise, "Good to see you again, Master".

He was quite a sight to behold. He had long, dark pink hair with blond strands and quite a lot of hair, an impressive crown of hair. He wasn't dressed traditionally like most human-form dragons in Nara, he was wearing a bright red leather ensemble. His fingernails were polished black. 

The king introduced the human next. "And this is Fujita, the captain of my palace guards". Fujita bowed his head. He seemed to be in his early thirties, a clean, spotless, handsome face, and he appeared to be quite tall, even when seated. 

"I'm sure I don't have to introduce General Lee and my son."

Ryuu's jaws automatically tightened at the mention of their relation but he tried to keep his composure. General Matsumoto waved at him cheerfully and Ryuu noticed the man had pink and purple eyeshadow applied. Some dragons had weird human habits, but soldiers? Especially such high-ranking ones? Ryuu couldn't imagine what kind of skillset this strange pink dragon would bring to the table. 

Shirojin laid out a map of Nara on the table and marked certain regions on it with a pen. 

"These are the regions currently occupied by rebel forces. They started spreading quite quickly and I am afraid they will soon reach the capital and wreak havoc. We have to prevent it."

"Do you already have plans?", Lee asked examining the map and Matsumoto nodded, placing one decorated finger into the Northern region, onto Mountain Sora. 

"Rebel forces are like dragons themselves. Cut the head off, the body will fall. We need to prevent a full-scale war, Shirojin doesn't want to spill more blood, and I tend to agree with this approach, as much as I love slaying stuff, " he emphasised the word with a crooked, mischievous smile, "I don't think we necessarily need to put out more lives if it can be evaded."

"Assassinate the rebel leader?", Ryuu noted on a calm voice and Matsumoto clicked with his tongue. "Yup. Exactly."

"You already know who that is?", the question came from Master Lee and Shirojin nodded. 

"We gathered intel in the past weeks. Even if some may think all I do all day is seducing helpless human females, I was actually doing my job as a king", he looked straight at Ryuu and Ryuu stood his glance firmly with his jaws tight.

"Ooshiro. Haiiro, The Gray Dragon's son."

Master Lee's face darkened. "Rebellion runs in the family." The other three nodded.

"Why do I feel like I am being left out of conversation?", Ryuu remarked sarcastically and Matsumoto laughed wholeheartedly. 

"Oh, he's quite a hot-blood, isn't he?", the general glanced at Shirojin smiling and then turned back to Ryuu, tilting his head, making his massive amount of long hair fall to one side. 

"Looking at you more closely, you do remind me of young Shirojin. All hotheaded and always angry at something", he mused and Shirojin playfully punched into his shoulder. "Hey! When was I ever?"

"Oh you don't remember when you were tasked to learn hand to hand combat with me and you went against your dad all furious shouting, 'I'm not fighting a bloody girl!'", he giggled and Shirojin gave a joyful smile.

"I did think you were a girl. You even had lipstick on, don't blame me!"

"Human make-up was fascinating even at that time, what could I do? I love stuff like that", Matsumoto mused and giggled at Ryuu's intense facial expression.

"Oh he's gonna blow up. Beep, beep, beep, boom!", he teased Ryuu and Ryuu finally couldn't bear it any longer and banged his fist down on the table with such force that the thick oak cracked in the middle. Matsumoto and Fujita's breath stuck in as they observed the moving black ink on his skin and the pitch black pair of fiery eyes glowing at them.

"Easy, boy, easy...", Matsumoto said on a lower voice, astonished at the young man's changed form. Shirojin also couldn't hide his surprise. Although Master Lee had told him before about the tattoo-like formation that appears on Ryuu's skin in battle, he only ever witnessed it once, when Ryuu attacked him on that day ten years before. Lee put his hand on Ryuu's shoulder and had to apply some force to push him back into his seat. "Ryuu... Please. Try to breathe, slowly", he instructed the young man carefully and Ryuu's tension slowly eased, his skin and eyes returning to normal. 

"I was just pulling your leg, Ryuushin-kun, you don't need to rip my throat", Matsumoto smiled at him and Ryuu suddenly felt dizzy. He closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh,

"I'm sorry. I'm a little tense lately", he squeezed between his teeth and Shirojin's heart sank. Being in Nara was clearly taxing on Ryuu's heart and mind. 

"Haiiro was the leader of the last rebellion, the group of dragons who were adamant on enslaving humankind. Ooshiro was still a fledgling at that time, but I thought that we purged the whole family", Shirojin noted and Matsumoto nodded, deep in thought.

"I wonder how he survived it. In any case, we need to hunt him down and kill the core of this whole rebellion. And we need to do this carefully, well-planned and well-executed. Nobody outside of this room should know about any of these, understood?", he asked looking at all of them now with a serious look on his face. 

"What do you think, General Lee, is it doable?", Shirojin asked and Lee hummed, placing a thumb on his lower lip as he usually did when deep in thoughts.

"It won't be easy to cut through rebel territory unnoticed. But if we are careful, it could be doable. I will need a current map of the area and will devise a route."

"We have to go as soon as possible, and until we reach his place, none of us can transform into dragon form, whatever happens. I can make us all smell like mortal humans but if any of us turns into a dragon, the spell will break", Matsumoto looked at them seriously and Ryuu frowned.

"Spell?"

"Oh, he doesn't know, does he?", Matsumoto pointed at Ryuu and Shirojin nodded, then spoke up.

"Hideto... Umm... General Matsumoto has some knowledge of ancient magic spells. He's a ... um... a kind of... well...", Shirojin didn't really know how to address the problem and Fujita gently chimed in. 

"He's a witch", looking straight into Ryuu's eyes with such seriousness that Ryuu blurted out in his first genuine laughter since he crossed the borders of Nara.

"I'm not joking", Fujita reassured him and Ryuu glanced around the room, and nobody was laughing with him. 

"Are you fucking serious? A witch?"

"Why?", Matsumoto tilted his head and pouted. "Your dad is a 500 year old dragon, you have .... tattoos running around your body, and you are currently sitting in a mythical land in a parallel universe, but I can't be a witch?", he looked at him blinking and Ryuu pressed his lips together and shook his head.

"Right, okay. Fair enough", he concluded and then looked around the room. "So the palace guard, the illegitimate half-blood, an old taichi master and a witch will assassinate the rebel leader. That's the plan, do I see it right?", he asked and Matsumoto knit his brows.

"Why does he sound like he finds this funny?"

"Because it's hilarious", Ryuu looked at him straight and Matsumoto sighed, pointing a manicured finger at Shirojin.

"He's also coming."

"No way", Ryuu shook his head. "Which king would get out of the palace to silently assassinate an opponent? And why? This starts to sound like a morning soap on TV."

Shirojin sighed. "You will need me, and besides, the opponent would never suspect a king getting out of his palace to assassinate him, right?"

"Oh, great logic. Nobody will notice the White King walking around. You're not sticking out like a sore thumb, really, no", Ryuu taunted and Matsumoto placed his chin into his palm and pouted again.

"Hello, you have a witch here. Okay? No worries, none of us will stick out like a sore thumb. Nobody along the way will suspect anything. Trust me", he smiled and Ryuu nodded. "If you say..."

"Hey, kiddo, I have 500 bloody years of experience on the job, okay? How old are you? 20-something? If you were a dragon, you'd be a fledgling."

"But I'm not a dragon", Ryuu retorted and Master Lee sighed in despair. How are they going to survive this adventure into rebel territory with such tension between crucial members of the team?

"Enough!", Shirojin shouted now, losing his temper. Ryuu decided it was wiser not to finish his sentence and remained silent. 

"Hideto will need a few days to prepare the spell so that it could disguise us all. In the meantime, I would really like us all to focus on what's important: saving Nara."

"You don't need me on this trip", Ryuu stood up, ready to leave the room but Shirojin immediately rose from his seat. 

"We do need you. As we can only work our way through rebel territory in human form, we need good human fighters. Fujita is the best in the palace, myself and Hideto are not bad, either in human combat but you know that our human bodies are much weaker than yours. You are the strongest fighter among us."

Ryuu glanced at Master Lee but the master shook his head. "I will not go. Someone has to remain in the palace and protect your friends in case something unexpected happens. Your mind will also be more at ease if you know your friends are safe while you are away. Shirojin is right, considering their human forms, you have the strongest skills."

Ryuu lowered his head and his jaws tightened again. "I can fight humans and human-forms but what do we do with full dragons? I'm not strong enough to defeat a fully fledged dragon."

Matsumoto licked his lower lip and smirked. "I can actually equip you for that, _fledgling_ ". 

Ryuu forcibly stopped himself from uttering an insult and clenched his fist. 

"Oh no no no, no dragon-inking-tattoo-crawling please. It's creepy. Let's just say that I have a few cards up my sleeves, kiddo", he winked at them and gracefully exited the room first. Fujita bowed to the king and left, as well.

Master Lee rose from his seat and sighed.

"Ryuu, I'm concerned about your temper. Now I witnessed multiple times in one day, that you are losing your temper. It's also highly unusual that your dragon senses awaken from mere anger, and not just at the smell of danger", he looked at Ryuu with sincere concern in his eyes. Ryuu himself did find his frequent anger bouts strange. The last time he experienced such rushes of his dragon senses coming alive was in his teens when his human hormones kicked in and messed with his system. 

"I'm sorry master. I have no idea why it is happening. I usually don't get hyped up so easily", he sighed and then glanced at his father. 

"Maybe I'm just too tense and disturbed in this place."

Shirojin closed his eyes for a moment and then walked to the other side of the table to face Ryuu. 

"I don't want to make your stay in Nara uncomfortable, Ryuushin. If you feel more at ease that way, please stay with Master Lee in his home. I will excuse myself in front of your friends and retreat to my chambers. You can comfortably have a meal with them without me", he said with a saddened look on his face and walked to the door. There, he turned back to look at Ryuu one more time and gave a faint, sad smile.

"I hoped one day you would be able to bear being under the same roof with me, but I have to accept reality. I'm sorry, Ryuushin, for inconveniencing you. When all of this is over, you can return to the human world and live your life as a history professor. I promise. We will do away with the rebellion, and you will have the normal human life you deserve", he said on a hoarse low voice and walked out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, two new characters got introduced, you can go back to Prelude and check out their photos. :)


	13. The Dragon Within, pt. 2.

They were having early morning tea on the spacious, shaded veranda just above the back garden. It was a beautiful morning, the sun just rose up, with a light breeze bringing fragrant flower scent and Luna tried to enjoy the moment. It was the third day they spent in Nara, and the third day Ryuu refused to eat with them. He would retreat to Master Lee's small home to have his meals and in his spare time he would train, do calisthenics exercises or hone his katanas. Matt would sometimes join him for short walks in the outer garden but whenever Luna tried to approach him he would make an excuse and leave. Luna and Matt were told that morning that Ryuu will accompany the king and some officials to the Eastern region to visit tribes and strengthen diplomatic relations and that Master Lee will remain in the palace. 

Luna, the king, his friend Matsumoto-san, Matt and Master Lee were having tea and enjoying the weather before their departure the next morning, while Ryuu was practicing tai-chi in the back garden, a little farther away. They were silently watching his graceful, slow but extremely precise and calculated movements. He was wearing traditional Japanese attire now, a dark blue robe with a matching _hakama_ , traditional wide-legged pants. His long hair was tied up in a pony-tail, and he was barefoot.

"It looks like he is dancing", Matt giggled a little and Master Lee shook his head smiling. 

"Oh, believe me, it's not a dance".

"I know, I've seen this on the internet, old people in China do this in parks, don't day? It's like old people's exercise."

Shirojin bit his lips to prevent himself from laughing, as he already knew Master Lee was very sensitive to criticism of his favourite tai-chi. Master Lee tried to smile and he leaned over the table and patiently started to describe tai-chi to Matt. 

"It's not old people's exercise. It's a form of martial art, and a very powerful art indeed. What you see old people do in parks is the diluted, dumbed-down version of it, for recreational purposes. Tai-chi helps regulate the heart, breathing and improve focus and concentration. Ryuu learned to keep his dragon senses in check by practicing tai-chi. But", he now pointed at Ryuu, "look at his moves more carefully, try to follow his hands. Do you see it?", he asked and both Matt and Luna squinted, trying to see what they were supposed to be seeing. Their confused faces made Matsumoto chuckle.

"I don't see anything. I mean, he's waving his arms and stuff", Matt mumbled. Matsumoto started fiddling with a long lock of his pink hair resting on his shoulder. 

"Try to see further than his mere body. Follow one of his hands only at a time. Focus on his palm. Especially when he comes closer to the ground."

They tried again and after a while both of them dropped their jaws to the floor. As Ryuu's hands approached the ground in some of his routine moves, grass leaves bent in the opposite direction, as if a very strong wind hit them directly. 

"He has a very strong energy, that half-fledgling", Matsumoto said on a pleased voice. "It's like he pushes the energy outward and away from him. His _chi_ is something... otherworldly", he muttered this now rather to himself. Shirojin couldn't help but feel worried about that last comment. Ryuu was getting stronger, visibly, every day since he came to Nara but it was worrisome and Master Lee already expressed his own worry to him the day before. It was as if some kind of changes began in Ryuu's body that were way faster than his progress in the human world thus far. 

Ryuu finished his routine and opened his eyes, now catching sight of the bunch watching him from the veranda. Matt waved to him enthusiastically but Ryuu turned away and walked out of the garden, towards the servant quarters where Master Lee's house was. Shirojin heaved a painful sigh. 

"I'm not sure how we will get along during the... trip. I wish I could do something to ease this for him."

"By the way, why is going with you? He clearly hates being here, why would he voluntarily join you on a trip?", Luna frowned and Matsumoto and the king exchanged quick glances. 

"His mother's grave is in the mountains", Shirojin lied bluntly. "I could not bury her near the palace, because of our laws. He wants to visit, so he will tag along."

"Oh", Luna uttered but her facial expression gave away that she was still thinking about the answer and opened her mouth to ask another question which Shirojin prevented it by standing up from his seat.

"Would you do me a favor, Luna? Today is Ryuu's birthday. I don't think he would accept any kind of present from me so I would like you to give him something on my behalf. Would you do it, please?"

Luna was first taken aback but then slowly agreed. "I thought Ryuu's birthday was in August, though."

Shirojin smiled. "His birthday is 8-18. Eighth month of the lunar calendar. That's September 16th in the Gregorian calendar this year. We use the Lunar calendar in Nara."

"Oh. Then, he is turning 30 today", she smiled, a little happiness flashing through her face and Shirojin nodded. 

"Then we party tonight?", Matt winked at Luna but she shook her head. "You've seen him, haven't you? Do you think he is in the mood to party? He refuses even to eat with us."

Matt looked visibly disappointed but eventually shrugged his shoulders. Ryuu indeed did behave very strangely since they stepped into Nara.

* * *

Luna knocked on the door of the small house and slid the door to the side. She took her sandals off to step in, and looked around. It was a very plain interior, almost ascetic. Only a tatami and a small table by the window. Next to the wall she noticed one more item of furniture: a lacquered _katanakake_ , a stand with Ryuu's recognisable katanas resting on it.

"Ryuu?", she asked loudly and soon enough, he appeared from the room next door. He was half-naked, still wearing the _hakama_ pants. He was holding a towel in his hand.

"Oh, I guess you were washing up. Sorry for disturbing you", she said apologetically and Ryuu reluctantly nodded. 

"Why did you come here?" His long hair was wet, falling onto his shoulders. He smelled like sandalwood and Luna again felt her heart rushing in excitement. Him being half-naked, showing off his sculpted upper body and smooth skin didn't help, either. She cleared her throat and had to lick her dry lips.

"Umm. I have something for you. I heard... today was your lunar birthday", she said, and pulled a small wooden box out of the pocket of her long sunflower-patterned skirt. She reached it out towards him and Ryuu reluctantly took the small box, placing his towel onto the floor. 

"Your father gave it to me, he said you wouldn't accept it from his hands", she said on a low voice and Ryuu flashed a glance at her, but before he could push the box away she stepped closer and put her hand on his, looking straight into his eyes.

"Please, at least take a look at it. Please.", she begged and Ryuu sighed. He slowly opened the box. Inside, there was a silver necklace, with a silver dragon pendant. His jaws tightened and he shut the box immediately.

"How fitting", he said on a mocking tone and threw the box away into a corner. "If you came here only for this, you'd better leave now", he said firmly, coldly and turned away.

"This was your mother's necklace. She had this medal made when you were born. She gave you your name. The heart of a dragon", she pleaded desperately and saw Ryuu's hands clench into a fist. He turned back, tense and livid, and raised his voice at her. 

"You know nothing, and you believe everything that bastard tells you. Get out! Now!"

"Ryuu, please, please try to put away your sulking for a moment and...", she stepped closer, reaching her hand out but she stopped short as Ryuu's eyes turned pitch black and the dragon-ink quickly filled his skin up to his neck. His fists were trembling. 

"Get out!", he howled on a thundering voice she never heard before and Luna quivered with fear. She never saw him so frightening, so beastly before. 

* * *

They all heard the female scream from the palace guards' quarters and Shirojin immediately recognised Luna's voice. He started running towards Master Lee's house, that was standing in a smaller courtyard at the back of the quarters, and Shirojin's reaction prompted the others - Matsumoto, Lee and Matt - to follow suit. They arrived to witness Luna stumbling out of the house, gasping for breath, tears running down her cheeks. She was trembling as Shirojin caught her before she would fall.

"What happened? Luna?" 

"Ryuushin... ", she said on a muffled voice, still trying to breathe properly.

Palace guards rushed to the scene but Shirojin sent them away and told them to stay outside the courtyard walls, whatever they hear, as he helped Luna to her feet.

A moment later, a raging Ryuu broke out of the house, literally snatching the wooden door out of its frame and throwing it aside. He was a frightening sight, his pitch black eyes were glowing with a black fire and the tattoos on his skin were moving restlessly, fast, his muscles pumped and his veins pulsating. 

Master Lee tried to approach Ryuu reaching out his arms in a defensive manner, slowly stepping towards him, one step at a time.

"Calm down, Ryuu... Breathe. Remember what you learnt, take a deep breath", he said on a warm, calm tone but it was as if Ryuu became deaf. His eyes were fixed on Shirojin and unexpectedly, he launched at him with such speed that Shirojin could barely push Luna out of his way before Ryuu's strong kick landed on his chest and sent him flying into the courtyard stone wall. That hurt and he groaned as he stood up. Matsumoto was ready to fight, but Shirojin shook his head at him. Ryuu's rage would easily tear his human form apart and he didn't want his friend to transform, either. Ryuu's rage was directed at him, and him only. 

Luna came back to her senses and started pleading Ryuu, crying but her words and voice seemed not reach his consciousness. Master Lee tried to go around behind his back but Ryuu's senses were on fire, he could hear his silent steps and immediately turned around and delivered a punch. Master Lee caught his arm and deferred the punch but immediately received a left-handed bow to his jaws. Ryuu's fight speed increased tenfold since they last trained together a few weeks before. Lee staggered to the side, with a dislocated jaw and Matsumoto and Shirojin launched at Ryuu at the same time, trying to pin him to the ground but he blew them both away with a few kicks. Matt pulled Luna aside and both of them were watching the fight in horror. Shirojin shook his head to come to his senses and glanced at Matsumoto, who was also trying to gather himself off the ground. Ryuu's kicks were incredibly painful. 

"We need to transform", Matsumoto spat out blood, clenching his chest but Shirojin shook his head. "No, I won't let history repeat itself. Move, take them back to the palace", he nodded towards Luna and Matt. "Go!", he staggered up from the floor and prepared himself for the fight. Master Lee also regained consciousness in the meantime and groaned. "Boy, that was uncalled for...", he whispered after he relocated his jaw with a painful hiss. Both of them were prepared to stop Ryuu even if it meant severely injuring their human-form bodies.

Ryuu was standing still, with his back to them, in the middle of the courtyard, his head lowered, his fists trembling. Shirojin frowned. Why didn't he attack them? A fighter like him would never give a chance to the opponent to gather themselves. And then he saw, Ryuu's muscles were stiff, his arms started shaking, and the dragon tattoos seemed like setting themselves on fire, glowing with red light on his skin. Ryuu groaned, and suddenly fell on his knees, and then fell face forward on the ground, his body becoming limp in an instant. 

Luna struggled to her feet and ran to him, repeating his name and tried to turn his body around. Shirojin rushed there to help, despite the incredible physical pain in his chest, no doubt it were a few broken ribs piercing his flesh. But he couldn't care less. Ryuu's body was burning with high fever, his eyes were shut and he was panting, the dragon-ink pulsating on his skin. 

"We need to carry him inside", Shirojin said urgently and Matt offered help to lift him up. Matsumoto was sent to fetch the palace doctor, hobbling as he hurt one leg in the fight. Luna rushed to bring cold water and she tried to bring his fever down with a wet towel but his scorching hot skin literally dried the towel in a few seconds. 

"How can his body temperature be so high? It's impossible", she whispered, kneeling at the futon, trying to wet the towel again. Ryuu was restless, tossing on the futon, groaning and mumbling unintelligible words. 

"What is happening to him?", she asked frightened and looked up at Shirojin, who was silently sitting on Ryuu's other side, helplessly watching his struggle with a pained expression. 

"I have no idea", he answered on a hoarse voice while Master Lee was pacing up and down the room deep in thoughts. 

"It all began the day he entered Nara. He became less and less stable in controlling his emotions. Just like that day 10 years ago."

Shirojin suddenly looked up, and whispered, "The same day 10 years ago. 18th day of the 8th Lunar month."

Master Lee stopped in the middle of the room and looked at Shirojin. "Ryuu was born in the year of the dragon..."

"... in the month of the dragon, on the day of the dragon....", Shirojin continued and Lee's voice faltered as he finished the sentence: "... and in the hour of the dragon."

"What hour is it now?", Shirojin asked suddenly and Lee glanced out of the window to see where the sun was. "It must be between 7 and 9 am still. ... The hour of the dragon...."

Shirojin stood up and glanced down at Ryuu's shaking body. "This cannot be a coincidence. It's as if the constellation of stars triggers... something... in him."

"I was thinking the same thing", they heard Matsumoto's voice, as he stepped in, followed by the palace doctor. The pink-haired dragon was holding a large book in his hand. 

"Let's leave the doctor to do his job, although I don't think he will find a remedy to his condition. I have to show you something", he looked at them meaningfully and still limping a little, headed into the room next door, while the doctor started examining Ryuu. Luna was reluctant to leave Ryuu but Matt pulled her up. "You need to come, too."


	14. The Dragon Within, Pt. 3

Matsumoto placed the large, dusty book on the tatami, opened it at a marked page and looked up. 

"While I was going to get the doctor, I couldn't help but think about the parallel between a similar event and this one. A long time ago, I have seen a dragon struggle to transform when he just came of age. It rarely happens, so there is not much documentation on it. When a dragon comes of age, usually at the age of 12, they will be able to force their bodies to change its shape, first into a spirit-dragon, that will reform itself into a human form. And then it works the other way around too. The dragon I saw struggling was a late-bloomer. He only came of age at 16, and it was more difficult for his older dragon body to shred its cells and transform. He was pulsating between his dragon body and a weak spirit-form and it was incredibly painful, too. He had a high fever, as his body struggled to accustom to the new form. He struggled for two days and then... he died, stuck between two states of transformation. I was fascinated with this at the time and noted down every single thing that happened in my journal", he pointed at the thick book. 

Shirojin examined the scribbles on the page, with a worried expression. "What are you trying to suggest? That Ryuu is... transforming? That's not possible, he is a half-blood."

Matsumoto nodded. "I know. I still think that his symptoms are an exact match to what I witnessed with that young dragon back then. Bouts of anger days before transformation began - check. Irritability - Check. The transformation almost always happens on the birth day of the dragon - check. I think... that ink-like thing crawling under his skin is... the manifestation of his spirit-dragon. He inherited the need to transform ... but... I think he lacks the physical capability, since he has a very human body with human genes that prevent him from transcending his physical cells and being able to regenerate them in a different consistency. If I want to be more blunt: the spirit-dragon in him, that provides him his increased power and speed, came of age. And wants to begin transformation, as is coded genetically into a dragon...."

"... but his human body traps the spirit-dragon and it finds no way out...", Shirojin whispered and suddenly his back hunched as if his chest collapsed into his own body. "He will die. Unable to transform, the spirit-dragon will overtax his system and he will die." He shut his eyes and his whole body trembled. Master Lee put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

"This is just a theory, Shirojin. Don't lose all hope just yet", he said gently but Shirojin shook his head. 

"It all makes sense. The pieces are now falling into place. Dragons always thought that half-bloods were not possible because of the incompatibility of the two species. The genetic difference. Probably there had been half-bloods before Ryuu, but were under the radar, since none of them lived long enough to make any difference. Most of them probably aborted naturally and the few that were born must have died in infancy. Most human women probably aborted fetuses immediately, not knowing what kind of creature would be born. To be honest, we had the same thoughts with Mary Anne, back then. We considered getting rid of ... the baby. I didn't know how a mixed blood fetus would grow, if it would... hurt her or ... if she were able to carry and deliver, at all. But after an initial shock she insisted she wanted to have the baby. However it would look like, whatever it would be. A dragon, a human or an unimaginable creature. She said that this baby was conceived out of love and therefore she would never be able to kill it. And when Ryuu was born, he ... looked like any human baby. I was relieved. I didn't think that blood incompatibility could manifest itself later in his life.", his voice cracked and he hid his face into his palm, doubling over in pain. 

Luna was trembling, shocked of what she just heard and tears were welling up inside her. Ryuu will die? Matt silently hugged her tight and patted her back gently. 

* * *

As expected, the palace doctor was not able to give a diagnosis and all he could do was brew medicine that could potentially bring Ryuu's fever down a little but he had no idea how to treat a half-blood. Shirojin knelt down at his shivering body and took his son's hand into his own. This was the first time he ever held his son's hand, since he was an infant. He looked at the now large male hand resting in his own, the long, delicate fingers and swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Ryuushin. I didn't know this would happen. I could have been a better father to you in your short life, but I didn't know I would have to lose you so early. I thought ... that we had time to work on our differences. Humans believe they go to heaven. Dragons believe they go to _Takama no Hara_ , when they die. If you end up in heaven, at least you can meet your mother. I'm sorry that I brought you to such a miserable and painful life, son". He squeezed Ryuu's hot hand and carefully placed it back on the futon. He felt he had to clear his mind and slowly walked outside into the sunlight and sat down on the small patio, raving into the distance. 

His old friend, Matsumoto settled himself down next to him silently and patted his shoulder. He could only imagine the pain Shirojin must have felt, about to having to bury yet another child of his. Matsumoto never had offspring, nor did he wish to have any, but knew how much his friend loved all of his children. He witnessed the king's sobbing fury as he was desperately clinging onto the dead body of his eldest son on the battlefield, and his silent mourning over his daughters, too. He was raving into the distance like this, when he was told of their demise. The last time he saw his friend cry uncontrollably, he was cradling Mary Anne's dead body in one arm and an infant Ryuu in the other, clasping him to his chest with a trembling hand. 

* * *

Luna shook her head again and again. She didn't want to believe Matsumoto. It couldn't have been true. She touched Ryuu's hot face, caressing his skin. The dragon ink was still crawling around on his shivering, sweaty skin, pulsating, losing its color, fading away and then returning, blackening rapidly, only to falter again. Whenever the ink became darker, he groaned heavily and pain distorted his beautiful face. They tried to make him drink a potion that would ease his physical pain but he wouldn't swallow, all the liquid was coughed up. Matsumoto tried to cast a spell to lessen his painful condition but his body didn't respond to that, either. Matsumoto said probably because it was already too late. He was dying. Master Lee and Matt rushed to the main library of the palace to try to look up anything in old dragon literature that could remotely help. Matsumoto was skeptical they could find anything.

Her tears welled up and she leaned closer to him, laid down next to him on the futon and held his hand. If he really had to go, she would be there holding his hand. 

"You can't go just yet... It's so not fair", she whispered. "I didn't even have an opportunity to tell you that I like you. You need to fight, Ryuu", she propped herself up on one arm and cupped his face into her right hand. 

"If that dragon inside you wants to come out, let him come out. I know... that you despise your dragon blood. But this is part of you, that's what you are. Do you hear me, Ryuu? Don't fight it, you have been fighting it all your life. You learnt to suppress it. Let it go, let it become what it has to become", she whispered, close to his face and planted a soft kiss onto his scorching hot lips, and then placed her head onto his chest, closing her eyes, listening to his heart racing in his feverish state. She came to accept the strange ink under his skin, moving around even as she planted her head on his chest. It didn't bother her any longer. It didn't matter any longer. 

Shirojin and Matsumoto found her like that, fallen asleep on Ryuu's chest and Shirojin gave a faint, sad smile. He hoped that Ryuu was at least able to somehow sense he was loved. Even if he never accepted his father's affection, maybe the girl's affection could reach through to his heart in his last hours and send him away in peace. 

As the hours passed by, Ryuu's heartbeats slowed down. Shirojin could hear it even sitting in the corner of the room, opposite Ryuu's futon and he knew that his son's hour was coming closer. As his heartbeats slowed, his shivering gradually lessened but his fever didn't, his skin was still hot. Matsumoto had food brought over but Shirojin wasn't able to swallow even one bite. 

Master Lee and Matt were still adamantly searching through the library, for an old book that Lee vaguely remembered from his youth. He was the oldest living dragon in Nara, at 800 years, and he was the fight master to both Matsumoto and Shirojin in their younger years. He was fond of them, as if they were his own sons, and therefore Ryuu was like his own grandchild. He didn't want to give up on him just yet. Something was bothering him, when he heard Ryuu mumble incomprehensible words. Those words were incomprehensible to most dragons or humans, even Matsumoto, the seasoned witch who knew old spells. It was a language Lee himself only heard once in his lifetime, high in the Himalayas, in an era where dragons were freely roaming the human world. It was the language of the ancient _Outatsu_ , the first members of the dragonkind. Many considered them mere legends but Lee saw one direct descendant who told him stories of the old times, and taught him some of the old language. Ryuu wasn't mumbling incomprehensibly. The words he mumbled meant "The time has come." Ryuu couldn't possibly have known about this language, unless... unless he was an original speaker of it.


	15. The Dragon Within, Part 4.

"I think I found it!", Matt shouted from the end of the huge bookshelf, where he was balancing on top of a ladder, browsing among ancient books. "A big green book with a golden dragon printed on the front, right? Volume XVII."

Master Lee looked up excitedly. Finally, after hours of search. "Let me see!", he exclaimed, rushing to Matt. The young man descended the ladder and handed the book over to the older. Lee affectionately pulled his fingers through the cover, opened the book, browsed through the table of contents, and then leafed through the book and found the chapter he was looking for. He smiled.

"Finally...", he whispered. "I thought it might have been lost. Good job, Matt-san!", he patted Matt's shoulder and the man grinned proudly. "Will this save Ryuu?", he asked suddenly with a serious face and Master Lee heaved a sigh.

"I don't know Matt, but let's hope the old witch can do something with the information. Let's go!", he slapped the book under his arms and swiftly headed out of the building. 

* * *

The room was quiet as they stepped in, carefully removing their shoes. Luna was still trying to soothe Ryuu's fever with wet towels. Shirojin was sitting with his legs crossed, his back and head against the wall next to Ryuu's futon, his eyes closed, his hands up his long robe's wide sleeves. He appeared to be sleeping. Matsumoto was sitting in the middle of the room reading his notebook. When they stepped in, Shirojin immediately opened his eyes, looking at Master Lee questioningly. He raised the book and settled down on the floor, in front of Ryuu's futon, so that the others could see him. Matt followed suit next to Matsumoto.

Master Lee opened the book at the previously noted page and looked up, straight at Shirojin. 

"You have heard about the legend of the Black Dragon King, right?", he asked and Shirojin hesitated for a moment but then nodded slowly. 

"From Chinese mythology? _Heilong_?", Luna asked and Lee nodded. 

"This is a universal legend in East Asia, and it originated from Ancient Nara, when the first dragons were born," he said and then started reading from the book. "Heilong's proper name was Ao Ming, or as Japanese call it, Gou Myou. The Black Dragon was one of the four dragons that first ascended to this world. Human mythology today believes that they were patron saints of seas and manipulated weather. In reality, they were the founding fathers of Nara, and the Black Dragon was the most powerful dragon that ever lived. You can see all sorts of dragons in Nara today, from every color of the rainbow, blue, red, yellow, grey, white", he glanced at Shirojin, "or pink", he looked at Matsumoto then and they all gave a small smile. "But...", he continued, reading from the page in the book, "no dragon ever again was born black. There is just one black dragon and that is Heilong." 

Master Lee looked up from the book and swallowed. "When Ryuu was mumbling in his feverish dream, I recognised the words of the ancient Naranian dragon tongue. I was taught some of the language when I was very young and training with my master in the Himalayas. There we met an old, old dragon, who was more than a thousand years old at the time, and she told me stories of the old times and talked about the power of the Black Dragon who ruled Nara for 1500 years and that when he died, he foretold that there shall not be black dragons born in Nara until he reincarnates", he paused, raising his eyes at Ryuu's feverish body. Luna was holding his hand. 

"'The time has come', that is what Ryuu mumbled unconsciously. And it is impossible that he would speak Ancient Naranian, I never taught him, nor have I ever talked to him about this language."

Matsumoto was biting his lips semi-nervously and glanced at Ryuu. "You're saying that Ryuu's spirit-dragon, stuck in his transforming stage, is actually the reincarnation of the Black Dragon?"

Shirojin got startled at the thought, staring at his son's shivering, feverish body, with the black ink pulsating on his skin. Pitch black ink. 

"It makes sense, I think", Lee said firmly. "Just think about it. The prophecy, that foretold the coming of a half-blood who would rule Nara. No black dragons for thousands of years, and Ryuu's spirit dragon appears to be black, if we can judge its color by the ink on his skin", he nodded towards Ryuu and sighed. "He was born in the hour of the dragon, on the day of the dragon, in the month of the dragon, in the year of the dragon. As if pre-destined to host the Black Dragon."

"Host? This doesn't sound like something pleasant...", Matt pulled a frightened face and Matsumoto patted his shoulder gently. 

"Don't worry, it's nothing... disgusting. Our spirit-dragons are what they are called: spirits. They allow us to transform, they give us our strength. We are... integrated, I think, that's a good word to express this. I cannot really tell you what it feels like, but it's a completely natural feeling for us. It's not like some kind of leech that we 'host'. It's part of our being, our identity."

"Since Ryuu is a half-blood, and his body works differently to dragons', the spirit-dragon could have manifested itself in this form, appearing on his skin", Shirojin mused over the possibility and then turned to Master Lee.

"What can we do? Can we do anything? If the Black Dragon chose to reincarnate in a half-blood, he should be able to transform. Why would he confine himself in a body that is not able to behave like a normal dragon's?"

For a few minutes they all fell silent, thinking hard and then Luna looked at Ryuu wide-eyed.

"Master...", she whispered and Master Lee frowned. "What is it?"

"You said that Ryuu has been taught all his life to keep his dragon senses in check, right?"

"Yes...", Lee knit his brows, confused. Shirojin looked up at Luna suddenly, with understanding in his eyes. 

"What if... what if the spirit-dragon cannot transform because Ryuu is trying to suppress it?", she asked looking worried and Shirojin and Matsumoto exchanged glances. Could it be possible?

"He hates his dragon heritage...", Shirojin whispered, his voice sounding tired and cracked. "If he is consciously trying to prevent his spirit-dragon from manifesting itself, then ... he is ... knowingly killing himself...", he closed his eyes desperately. "The last time we met ten years ago, he ... cut his own throat when he saw me in my dragon body. After... he recovered and could speak again, he called me a monster. And then asked me why I had to make a monster like him", Shirojin's voice faltered and tears rolled down his cheek. Luna squeezed Ryuu's hand despairingly. 

"You're not a monster, Ryuu... Please, you have to wake up... you have to let that spirit-dragon transform. Please", she whispered, now crying, while Matsumoto looked at Shirojin with a serious expression. He then moved closed to Luna and took one of her hands.

"There is a way you can relay this message to him. He doesn't hear you now. I can help so that you can talk to him while he is in his feverish dream fighting his own spirit-dragon", he said firmly and Shirojin shook his head.

"No, this is dangerous, you cannot do this." Luna looked confused, and Master Lee heaved a sigh.

Matsumoto smiled. "Trust me, please."

"I don't mind if it is dangerous, I will do it.", Luna said immediately and Matsumoto gave her a quirky smile.

"Oh, brave love is the best kind of love."

"You will be safe, I'm talking about Hideto", Shirojin said on a low voice, now looking at his best friend worried. "He wants to use telepathy to give some of his own powers to you. This can tax your body, Hideto, it's too dangerous", he pleaded but Matsumoto smiled again.

"I know how long I can do it without it draining me completely. And I will be fine with a few hours' rest afterwards. Shirojin, this could be our very last chance. Ryuu's heart is slowing down at an alarming rate. I know you can hear it too", he said convincingly and Luna looked at them in panic. 

Shirojin reluctantly nodded and Matsumoto turned to Luna.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded silently and Matsumoto took her right hand. She was holding Ryuu's fingers in her left hand. 

"Listen to me carefully. Don't let his hand go, or mine. I will give you some of my telepathic powers to enter his dream. Remember, this is not reality for you, whatever happens in there, is just a dream, you cannot get hurt. You are just a temporary visitor. But it is very much real for Ryuu. It's inside his own head, and whatever happens there during the dream, affects his physical being. You need to find him and you need to convince him to let the spirit-dragon transform. I will guide you. I will not be able to see what you see inside his head, so you will need to tell if you need guidance. Do you understand?"

Luna nodded again and Matsumoto smiled at her encouragingly. "Be brave. For as much as we know, he could be fighting monsters inside, his very own monsters. But those cannot hurt you, they only hurt him, okay? Now close you eyes", he told her and put his other hand gently onto her jaw, cupping her face. He closed his eyes, too, concentrating deeply. Matt didn't even dare to breathe. Shirojin and Lee were both tense as they watched. 

* * *

Luna began to feel like she was floating, a strange sensation ran through her body as Matsumoto began to relay his telepathic energy to her. Everything faded away and suddenly she felt scorching heat on her skin and gave a small frightened scream involuntarily. 

"What is it, Luna?", she heard Matsumoto's voice in her head but for a moment she was unable to answer. Her vision cleared up and she saw a vast land, covered in grey ashes, all around her.

"Fire", she breathed scared, and her physical body started shivering, making the other three conscious men in the room worried.

"It's scorching hot here, everything... everything is burning... Trees, houses in the distance, the grass... Flames everywhere", she whispered. 

Shirojin felt incredible pain in his heart. Ryuu's body was literally burning from inside. He was burning himself to death. 

"Remember Luna, for you this is not reality. Those flames cannot hurt you, cannot burn you. It's all like.. in a movie. You can walk past them, go!", Matsumoto said firmly and Luna was trembling, her mind was still unable to process that what she was seeing wasn't real. It felt real. 

She gathered all her courage to step further, one step at a time, through the ashes-covered ground and as she reached the first wall of flame, she almost started crying. She kept repeating to herself that this wasn't real. The fire wouldn't burn her. Ryuu was somewhere here and she had to find him. She reached out her hand, slowly and squeezed her eyes as she touched the flames. Her eyes popped open, as she didn't feel any burning sensation. She could feel the heat but it wasn't burning her. Just like Matsumoto told her, she could step over the flames as if they were not there.


	16. The Dragon Within, pt.5.

As she moved forward, the flames licking her skin, causing a warm sensation, she spotted him. He was chained, to a dark stone wall, with massive chains, he was on his knees, his head bent, all of his raven black hair fallen into his face, wet with sweat. His breathing was shallow, his arms chained above his head. The flames were gradually moving closer to him, creeping, crawling closer every moment. Luna realized that once the flames engulfed his body, the fever would consume him for real. 

She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the tongues of flames stretching out, as if trying to stop her from getting closer to him. But she braved through the flames and knelt down in front of him, carefully touching his face, calling his name louder and louder amid the crackling noises of fire. 

"Ryuu, Ryuu! Look at me! Please, can you hear me?", she pleaded, now cupping his face with both hands, raising his head, wiping away wet locks of hair. His eyelids slowly opened and a pair of lifeless, dull eyes stared back at her. She burst out sobbing, now the sense of urgency, emergency hitting her heart and squeezing it hard. Matsumoto was right, this was a matter of life and death, right there. Ryuu wasn't fighting monsters in his head. He literally chained his own consciousness to a dying body. 

In the small room of Master Lee's home, the others sat silently watching her sobbing and Shirojin felt like his heart would be ripped out of his ribcage. Matsumoto trembled, and almost fell to the side, had it not been for Matt to grab him and prevent him from losing contact with Luna's body. His strength was rapidly decreasing and Shirojin knew that he would not be able to hold it much longer. He could only pray to the gods that Luna would be able to do what she had to do before the connection disrupted. 

Luna felt the world tremble around her and her vision blurring for a second. She realized she might not have much time left in Ryuu's dream. She raised his head again, looking into his dull eyes and leaned closer to him.

"Ryuu, listen to me. You said you don't know what you are, stuck between two worlds, neither a human, nor a dragon. I know, you feel like you don't belong... But you do. You do have a place in this world, you matter. You're a dragon, Ryuu. We found out, you are capable of changing forms. But you need to let yourself go, you need to stop suppressing the dragon within you. Let him transform as he is supposed to. This world needs you, Ryuu. Your students need you, your dragon folks need you to keep Nara safe, humankind needs you, too. And I need you... Oh Ryuu, please... You need to realize how much greatness you can still be part of in this world. Or... in the other realm. You belong to both. And so many people love you, and worry for you out there. You can't just let yourself die. Please, please?", she whispered the last words, and leaned in, softly touching her lips to his burning hot lips. 

As she raised her eyes once more, Ryuu's eyes were closed, and she felt tears running down her face. Was she late? She tried to speak again but suddenly the ground started shaking around her and she felt the world spinning around. As she opened her eyes, she was in the small room again, sitting on the floor, next to Ryuu. Matsumoto was lying on the floor, Master Lee was holding his limp body. 

"What happened? Is he...?", she asked on a shallow voice but Matt shook his head. "He fainted."

"He shall be all right in a few hours. He is really exhausted and could not hold it any longer. Did you succeed?", Master Lee looked at her and Luna immediately turned to Ryuu's body, still lying on the futon, without any sign of change. 

"I don't know... I told him what I thought he needed to hear. But then I woke up... ", she whispered, now holding Ryuu's hand with two hands. She glanced up at Shirojin, who was sitting there on Ryuu's other side now, holding Ryuu's wrist with his fingers. Shirojin opened his eyes. 

"His heartbeats are evening out and his pulse is returning to normal", he said with a faint smile. "Whatever you told him, I think it did work. Thank you my dear", he reached out to gently touch Luna's face and she smiled, through her tears. 

Master Lee nodded with a sigh of relief and asked Matt to help him move Matsumoto to the next room, so he could rest. 

Ryuu's fever gradually died down and he was now peacefully sleeping. Shirojin finally agreed to eat something, it was already dark outside. Shirojin made sure that nobody would bother them, and forbade his servants and soldiers from entering this part of the quarter. Only the human maids bringing food, water and supplies were let in. Matsumoto recovered in a few hours, much faster than expected and as usual of him, he laughed it off. "I'm a seasoned witch, no need to worry about me", he winked at them and proceeded to make two entire large bowls of gyoza disappear, saying he had to replenish his energy.

"So now, Ryuu's spirit dragon will proceed with the transformation?", Luna asked as they finished the meal and Master Lee nodded.

"Probably, yes."

"But... then... what if he suddenly transforms in his sleep, or...?", she became pale at the thought of a large dragon ripping through the roofs but Matsumoto started giggling.

"You can't just transform in your sleep. It's a conscious process. Well, for Ryuu it might be a little different, we don't know, since he is not a 'normal' dragon, but I doubt the Black Dragon would just rip through the roofs, darling."

Shirojin also laughed at the thought but then he started thinking.

"Nevertheless, I think Luna is right in a way. It could be dangerous for Ryuu to change here in the palace. Not so much because of the roof", he smiled, "but because it can stir castle folks up. Also, news travel fast, if anyone starts spreading word about a black dragon appearing in the royal castle, that could be disastrous for our mission. We need to keep our enemies at bay, and have them still think that the half-blood is more human than dragon anatomically. I think we need to move Ryuu to a safe place before he begins transformation."

The others carefully assessed his words and both Matsumoto and Master Lee agreed in the end. 

"He is still recovering from the fever, hearing his heartbeats, I think he needs a few days to gain his strength back. His spirit dragon won't begin transformation in a weak physical body, that would be too dangerous. After all, our spirit dragons are hosted by us, if the physical body dies, the spirit dragon dies too. He will wait until Ryuu is physically strong again", Master Lee added and Shirojin nodded.

"Matsumoto, you know the place. That place. Can you get Fujita to prepare our moving? In silence, and without witnesses. No maids, no soldiers. I want only him to accompany us."

Matsumoto nodded and stood up. "We shall be moving early morning, then."

Master Lee glanced at Shirojin. "You really do trust this Fujita?"

Shirojin heaved a sigh. "I do. He is... kind of like my son to me. He lost his parents early, they were killed by renegade dragons on Earth. I practically raised him in the castle. He's a good fighter, a good soldier and he is loyal to me."

Luna lowered her head, glancing at Ryuu and felt her heart heavy. The king basically substituted his own son in Nara. As if reading her thoughts, Shirojin grabbed her hand. 

"Ryuu is very important to me, Luna. He is my blood, my own offspring. But that doesn't mean I cannot like other people, right?", he smiled and Luna reluctantly nodded. 

"I never had the chance to raise my own son. Yes, in a way, I poured my love and appreciation onto Fujita. Believe me Luna, if I could, I would have kept Ryuu by my side. But life is sometimes cruel in ways impossible to comprehend", he whispered the last words and let her hand go. 

"Go to sleep, we will have to go very early. You two are also coming with us, I cannot leave you in the palace alone, it's too risky. There are enemy dragons everywhere, and many would be very happy to hurt me in many different ways. For example, by killing my son's friends."

Matt and Luna both trembled at thought. 


	17. The Dragon Within, part 6.

They set off towards the Western Mountains very early, without the sun rising yet. Fujita made sure that no one in the palace would know about their route. Shirojin decided to stay a little longer, to avoid any suspicion and find an excuse to leave the palace in the morning. He planned to take a longer, windier route to the 'safe place', to make sure no one followed. They had to ride horses, and since neither Luna nor Matt had any experience in it, they sat behind Matsumoto and Master Lee, respectively. Fujita was leading the horse that was drawing Ryuu in a covered wagon. They all started out at different times, through different gates, in disguise and met in the middle of the woods at the crossroads. Ryuu's wagon was packed with chili, which helped suppress his scent, unique to dragons and familiar to those working in the castle. 

The late summer weather in Nara was pleasantly warm and the woods were all thriving with green flora, wild flowers and berry plants. It all looked like a masterfully painted landscape, with birds chirping and rays of the rising sun seeping through the foliage. Luna started to feel more at ease, leaning against Matsumoto and enjoying the ride. It took them nearly three hours to reach a small cottage nestled between the trees whose leafy boughs were closing up above it, as if hugging each other. It looked picturesque and calming. There was a small clearing behind it, where the grass grew high - it looked like the place was abandoned a long time ago. Ryuu didn't budge during the journey, they checked upon him frequently and made him drink water every hour. 

As they arrived at the cottage, Matt helped Fujita unpack their luggage and food supplies, while Matsumoto decided to clear up the grass in the "garden", as he called the small clearing. Luna was tasked to clean the cottage while Master Lee disappeared into the woods to get dry boughs for the fireplace. They didn't talk much, as they were all doing their assigned tasks and they only gathered for lunch, which was now just some cheese, dry meat and bread. Master Lee said they would do some grilling in the evening, which Luna found odd, since they had no fresh meat with them.

Matsumoto laughed. "This is a mountain, plenty of food here, darling. Master and I will go hunting. Dragons are excellent hunters", he winked at her, and then flipped his pink hair and proceeded to munch on a slice of cheese. Fujita was eating in silence, his facial expressions blank, but Luna saw him stealing occasional glances at the room Ryuu was lying in.

"Fujita-san, how long have you been the king's bodyguard?", she asked in between bites and Fujita looked up.

"I'm not a bodyguard. I'm the captain of the palace guards. His Majesty doesn't need a human bodyguard. He's a very capable fighter himself.", he answered calmly but factually and Matt lightly smiled at Luna. The girl was always trying to be friendly with everyone, so he decided to chime in.

"How old are you? You look like you are of a similar age with Ryuu", he nodded towards the room and Fujita followed the nod with his eyes.

"I'm a few years older than His Highness the _denka-san_ ", he said, drinking some water. Matsumoto and Master Lee were silently watching their exchanges, with a small smile. Fujita wasn't very talkative. He was efficient and loyal, but not really a talker. Matt waved at him dismissively.

"Oh come on, man, don't be so uptight. You are among friends here, you can call him Ryuu like we all do."

Fujita carefully put his plate down, stood up and lightly bowed. "I would never dare to do that. I'm His Majesty's servant", he said calmly and then bowed towards Master Lee separately, him being of the highest rank in the room.

"Excuse me, Sir General. I will take care of the horses", he said and Master Lee nodded smiling. Fujita left the room calmly, and Matt shook his head. "Jeez, the guy's a machine."

"I think he feels... sad. I get a very melancholy and... pained vibe from him", Luna mumbled mainly to herself but Matsumoto and Master Lee exchanged knowing glances. The girl was a good observer and was able to detect even the tiniest emotional clues on others' faces. Master Lee smiled. 

"Let's see how Ryuu's doing. Shirojin will arrive soon."

* * *

Shirojin approached the cottage and dismounted from his horse, tying its bridle to the long wooden fence, where the other horses were also left. He caught sight of Fujita bringing fodder to the horses and greeted him with a smile. The young man was wearing plain black clothes, having left his palace guard uniform in the castle but he still looked dashing and handsome. He was tall and light skinned, with large dark eyes and long dark hair. In many ways, he resembled Ryuu a lot. Shirojin remembered how he found the then six year old boy shivering on the streets, nearby one of Nara's gates, where his parents' bodies were lying cold, massacred in blood. They were former servants of a Naranian landlord, and left Nara to have a family in the human world. Renegade dragons killed them, dragons who disapproved of servants going back to the human world, afraid of them telling others about the dragon realm. The boy wasn't crying. Shirojin could feel a strong, determined vibe from him, and decided to take him back to Nara. He trained the boy personally, carefully, watched him grow into a capable, strong man. Whenever he looked at Fujita, he thought of his own son he had to abandon. 

Fujita put the fodder down for the horses to eat and bowed deeply towards the king.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready. Lord Matsumoto and Lord Lee went hunting. The humans are inside. _Denka-san_ has not woken up yet", he gave his concise report and Shirojn stepped to him and happily patted his shoulder.

"Thank you, Atsushi-kun. I really appreciate all your hard work. Thank you for being by my side, kid", he smiled at the young man warmly and Fujita nodded, bowing slightly. "Your Majesty."

Ryuu's condition was unchanged, but it seemed like he was sleeping peacefully. That was a good sign. Sleeping helped to heal dragon wounds and ailments faster, and Shirojin knew that his son's spirit dragon was making sure his body recuperated well. His heart was beating strong, stronger every minute. 

Matt and Luna found some books in the cottage and were reading, although Matt struggled with the Kanji writing and frequently asked Luna for help. 

"This is _shuugou_ , it means "meeting" or "gathering", she pointed at the Kanji in the book with a pencil and Matt gave an understanding "Aah", just as Shirojin stepped into the common room, where the tea table was set. They greeted each other and Shirojin settled at the table on the floor cross-legged. "Studying?", he asked, looking at their books, as he poured himself a cup of jasmine tea. 

"We found some books, so we thought we would kill some time", Luna said and Shirojin looked at the book Luna was holding in her hands.

"The Tale of Genji. That was my wife's favourite book. It's not an easy read, though, in Old Japanese."

"I'm struggling with a few Kanji but we also found a dictionary. So that helps a little", she giggled and Shirojin gave a sad smile.He looked around the cottage and carefully examined the wooden structure, the large windows, affectionately touching the dark, old wooden floor with his fingertips. 

"This was our honeymoon home", Shirojin said on a low voice. "Mary Anne didn't really like the big palace, she felt lonely and lost in those big rooms and large gardens. We often came here, and Ryuu was actually born here. In the room he is now sleeping in", he turned his head towards the neighboring room, that was separated from the common place with a paper-covered sliding door, his eyes filled with memories and emotions. 

"This place holds all my happy moments with her, and with my son. However short-lived they may be." 


	18. The Dragon Within, Pt 7.

Matt was called over by Master Lee to help him set the fire for the meat grilling, having returned from the woods with Matsumoto with plenty of pheasants and rabbits. Shirojin and Luna remained in the tea room, alone. Luna wasn't sure whether she was doing the right thing, but she couldn't help herself, she was just too curious.

"I know, I might be overstepping my boundaries with this but... What happened to Ryuu's mother? Why... does he hate ... this place so much?", she asked, hesitating for a moment to directly name the king as the one Ryuu hated. Shirojiin gave a faint, sad smile and his glance raved into the small green teacup he was holding. The honest naivety in the girl's voice reminded him of Mary Anne so much.

"We really lived happily. My queen was never interested in my human affairs, we were matched for political reasons and we did our duties as king and queen. We were friends and she was glad I found my soulmate, after so many, _hundreds_ of years of waiting. Even if I knew that the time I could spend with Mary Anne was limited to her human lifetime, at least, I wanted her to live her happiest moments with me. Then... She became pregnant and everything changed. She had to remain in this cottage, and not meet any dragons, for dragons would be able to hear the heartbeat of the child and would instantly know. We didn't know how to handle all of this", his voice faltered and he cleared his throat and took a sip of the tea. 

"There is a prophecy, an old tale from the oldest of Naranian times that foretells the coming of a half-blood who would rule over Nara. Even though it is just a tale, dragons have never encountered half-bloods, so when we were expecting Ryuu... me and Master Lee were worried that some dragons might see a threat in the baby. I secretly moved Mary Anne to Japan after she gave birth here and we kept her location secret. Somehow, Ooshiro, the leader of the growing number of militant dragons who fear humans and want to subdue them, discovered our secret. He dispatched assassins to Earth to find my son. Master Lee, Matsumoto and I were able to catch upon them, and kill most of them before they reached the house. But one of them was able to get in, and ... ", Shirojin closed his eyes tight and his voice trembled as his memories flooded his body. 

"I arrived a moment too late... I was able to save Ryuushin but Mary Anne suffered a lethal wound even Matsumoto couldn't heal. She died in my arms", he whispered and Luna felt tears rolling down her cheeks. The king clearly suffered from even the memories of that moment, she couldn't imagine how incredibly painful that could have been to live through, there and then. 

"Ryuushin... he believes that I abandoned him purposefully, because he was an unwanted child. I had no choice. If I kept him by my side, the possibility of another assassination would have been tremendously high, and not just from Ooshiro's men. There are plenty of superstitious dragons who fear the half-blood prophecy. I was forced by the Council to enact a law that forbade half-bloods from permanently living in Nara. There was no way for me to raise my own son. Master took it upon himself to raise him and guard him, and teach him, to prepare him for battle. He had to become a capable warrior to defend himself." 

"When he turned 20 and Master deemed he was ready to finally come to Nara, I was ready to fight for his rights. That we would convince the council that my son was a valuable ally, an excellent warrior able to help us subdue the rebel dragons. If he helps us capture Ooshiro and punish the renegades, his lawful rights as the king's son would be restored. He could officially become the Prince of Nara. ... But things... didn't go as I planned. When he saw me, he was furious, and his anger grew every second. He attacked me and boy, was he fast! I suffered a few broken ribs and if I hadn't resorted to transforming, he would have probably hacked my head off", Shirojin gave a shallow sigh and he looked at Luna with saddened eyes.

"When he saw me transform into a dragon, he cut his own throat with a katana", he whispered and Luna put her hand over her mouth to subdue her engulfing sob. 

"Dragon blood is able to heal wounds very quickly and Ryuu is also capable of healing faster than humans. But the cut was really deep and he lost a lot of blood very quickly. No doubt, if he were a regular human, he would have instantly died then and there. It took him weeks to fully recover. After that incident.... I gave up on the mission. I gave up on trying to win my son back. I realized that his hatred for me was so deep, he would never listen to my side of the story, nor would he ever forgive me. I just... wanted him to live like he always wanted to. Like a human. Doing things he likes. Reading, studying. I hoped he would finally find peace, have friends, find love", he glanced up on Luna and smiled sadly. 

"But I see now that this is impossible as long as Ooshiro is on the run. He will forever hunt Ryuu. And will do anything to gain control over the gates of Nara and eventually rule over both Earth and Nara. If we don't stop him, it's going to be hell for humans and dragons alike. After this battle is over, I hope that Ryuu will finally be able to obtain the life he wants. Even without me in it. I lost all my children in the war. The only thing I want is for my only remaining child to stay alive. Nothing else. Nothing else", he whispered the last words and Luna nodded amidst her tears. 

"You need to talk to Ryuu about this... he needs to know...", she pleaded but Shirojin shook his head. 

"I tried many times, Master Lee tried to talk to him, too. He doesn't want to listen and I cannot force him to. He closes himself off, and I can understand why. He grew up without his parents, and I know it was really tough on him to be alone. Being different from other children. Even though he looks tough and strong, he has a soft heart, like his mother. The dreaminess in their eyes is the same. I wish Mary Anne could have seen him now, tall and handsome and intelligent. She would be so proud."

* * *

As the door closed behind Shirojin and Luna, the two finally joining the grill party in the backyard, Ryuu was lying silently on the futon, his eyes open. He had been awake for a while, he heard Shirojin entering the tearoom where Matt and Luna were reading. He had long learnt to regulate his heartbeats and pretended to be still sleeping. Now that they were gone, he slowly sat up and heaved a deep sigh. It was true he was never willing to listen, even to Master Lee. He was convinced that his father was the bad guy he needed to hate. He had to hate someone for his miserable life. The loneliness. Not having a mother's soothing touch. He desperately wanted to hate his father, despise the dragon blood in his veins. He looked down on his sculpted upper body, and he noticed the dragon pendant hanging from a silver chain around his neck. The pendant Luna said was commissioned by his mother. She must have collected it after he threw it on the floor. He touched the pendant with his fingers. His body felt alive and full of energy. Luna's words still echoed in his mind. "You belong to both realms. .... You're a dragon, Ryuu".

He stood up, slowly looking around the room. Shirojin said he was born in this exact room. The furniture was simple but exquisitely made, lacquered and it clearly was a room where a woman had lived. There was a dressing table with a mirror, with a small wooden box on top of it. Ryuu took the box into his hands and opened it. There were earrings and a bracelet in it, with pendants similar to the one he was wearing. He sat down at the table, and opened its drawers, one by one. There were earthly belongings in them, women's magazines, hair accessories, and a decorated paper box with photos and letters. The photos depicted a beautiful, blonde woman, her eyes full of life and laughter as she admiringly glanced at the man holding her in his arms. Shirojin looked playful and happy on the photo, affectionately twirling a lock of her hair around his fingers. They looked like a couple in love. 

There were other photos there, and among them, Ryuu discovered photos of himself. From his childhood, with Shirojin's neat kanji and hiragana writing on the back, each carefully labelled and timestamped. 

_Ryuushin is a chubby baby. He eats so well._

_Ryuushin is 8 years old today. He has been growing really well._

_Ryuushin graduated high school today. All A's. Your mother would be so proud. I know you'll do your best in university._

The photos became more scarce after his 18th birthday and Ryuu now realized why. Shirojin must have tried to keep his distance after that incident in the palace. There were letters from Master Lee, giving detailed descriptions of his training and daily life. Master affectionately called him 'our boy' in the letters. In one of them, he told Shirojin not to worry so much, as "our boy is doing really well. He just became a professor at Oxford! Thankfully, gates are scarce in England, I hope he can stay for a while in one place." Shirojin added his own notes to the end of the letters with a different colored ink. One of them read, "I'm glad you are doing well, son. I miss you. I haven't seen you for 8 years now. I wonder how much you have grown since. Did you eyes darken?" Another one read, "I can never send you my letters, but I need to write this down to myself, somehow. I wish I could just abandon this throne. Throw away this responsibility, and just become the father you never had." Ryuu started at the date of the note. It was written more than 15 years before.

* * *

As he opened the sliding door to the backyard, the laughter immediately died and for a moment, everyone was staring at him in disbelief. Luna was the quickest to come to her senses, bumping her plate on the floor and running to him, crying his name. 

"Ryuu! Are you all right? Ryuu?", she reached out to him, touching his face, her eyes full of worry and Ryuu finally gave a genuine smile. 

"I'm fine, don't worry", then he heard Matsumoto whisper in disbelief how it was totally impossible that none of the dragons present sensed him coming. Ryuu smiled again. 

"I can keep my heartbeats really low if I want to", he said calmly and Matsumoto dropped his jaws. "He's a wizard, isn't he?", the general looked at Master Lee blinking and Master Lee laughed. "No, he is just really good at tai-chi."

"Dammit, not that tai-chi monologue again!", Matsumoto wiggled a finger at Master Lee and Matt chuckled. In the past few hours Master Lee got on all of their nerves with his constant praise talk of the martial art. Shirojin rose from his place and carefully examined his son.

"I'm not going to transform just yet", Ryuu said with a half-smile and grabbing Luna's hand, approached the others. Fujita became alarmed and was already reaching out for his katana but Shirojin motioned him to stop. Ryuu smiled and settled down at the fire, on the ground. He was still half-naked, wearing just a pair of Japanese pants. He didn't seem to mind.

"You know? That you can transform?", Master Lee asked on a low voice and Ryuu nodded. 

"I had a strange dream with Luna", he glanced at her, "but when I woke up, I realized it must have been more than just a dream. There's this constant whispering in my head", he closed his eyes for a moment and Matsumoto started to hiccup.

"Whoa. Spirit-dragons rarely talk to us. I mean, it happens, like in battle, but they usually just shut up", he murmured and tilted his head, openly examining Ryuu up and down.

"That spirit-dragon of yours must really be a very powerful one. If it is indeed the Black Dragon.... Holy smokes. I get the shivers", he trembled and Ryuu nodded. 

"That's what he calls himself. It's pretty strange, but ... I thought having a spirit-dragon must be something like ... having a parasite in you. But this feels completely different. It's like..."

"You are him and he is you", Shirojin said and gave a small smile. "It's natural for dragons, it's a part of our being."

Ryuu nodded. "I admit, it's not as bad as I thought. So he keeps telling me that I still need to learn, and since my body is older than a fledgling's usually, I may need more time to adjust to... uh... not having a body? Does that make sense?", he asked confused and Matsumoto laughed out loud.

"Man, now I'm really curious of your dragon form. Seriously. And yeah, your spirit-dragon is pretty wise. It may be a bit more difficult for you to learn to be... a dragon. Since it is usually the other way around. We are born dragons and we transform into human form at the age of 12 to 14. Learning to transform the other way around, when your human body is 30... Could be a bit challenging. But hey, if that's the Black Dragon, I mean, if you are the Black Dragon, there is a reason why he chose to reincarnate in a half-blood. So I wouldn't worry about transformation."

"Right, thanks Pink Uncle", Ryuu coughed into his palm and looked at Luna.

"Can I get something to eat? I'm pretty hungry. I could eat a horse."

"There are a few cows over that mountain", Master Lee pointed to the Eastern direction, "If you transform, you can catch one".

Ryuu looked at him with serious terror in his eyes and looked around the others. "He's kidding, right? You are not really eating cows raw, right? Right?" 

"Well, some dragons prefer to hunt the old way", Shirojin noted on a low voice and put some grilled meat onto a plate, offering it to his son. "I prefer roast meat".

Ryuu took the plate and heaved a sigh.

"Not sure I really want to know more about dragons today", he mumbled and took a bite of the roasted pheasant thigh.

"Man, it's like I haven't eaten for days."

"You haven't eaten for days", Matt nodded, playfully winking at him and Ryuu glanced up.

"How long was I out for?"

"Three days. Oh, and happy belated birthday", Master Lee patted Ryuu's shoulder and Ryuu reluctantly nodded, taking another bite of the meat.

"I need to talk to you after dinner", Ryuu looked straight at Shirojin and the king nodded. "Sure."


End file.
